A Hazle Township man was charged with endangering the welfare of a child after motorists found a 2-year-old girl roaming Tamaqua streets by herself on May 21, borough police said.

The accused, Anthony C. Hill, 23, of Harleigh, is the boyfriend of the toddler’s mother and was asleep when the girl left the home, police said.

The girl was not reported missing for more than 2 hours.

According to officers, a motorist was traveling near the intersection of Mauch Chunk and Pine streets around 7:10 p.m. when she spotted the little girl about to cross the street. The woman jumped out of the car, grabbed the girl as she was crossing, and contacted police.

Police arrived and found that the girl would not say her name, and could not say where she lived. She did say that her “mommy” was at work. Police asked the girl where her mother worked, but she would only point up and down the street.

Officers snapped a photo of the girl, which was shared more than 300 times on multiple social media sites.

“Yet for two hours, no one seemed to know who she was and no one called the police to report a missing girl,” officer Karl Harig wrote in his report.

In the meantime, officers walked with a small group of people trying to find the parents but no one recognized the girl. The group checked homes and apartments on Pine and Greenwood streets, as well as Schuylkill Avenue.

After the extensive search, police contacted Schuylkill County Children and Youth at 8 p.m. The agency was unable to identify the child and sent a case worker to the police station to take custody. The case worker and the toddler left at 9:20 p.m., police said.

“Shortly after Children and Youth left, county radio informed me that they got three calls from three people about the girl claiming it was their daughter/granddaughter and they were informed to go to the police station,” police said.

The mother and grandmother arrived at the station and said they left the girl with Hill, then went to the laundromat and Walmart. When they returned, police said they found Hill asleep and the girl missing.

Hill came to the police station the following day and told police that he was out until 1 or 2 a.m. May 21 and stayed at his girlfriend’s home. Hill told police that the toddler woke at 9 a.m. and they had breakfast and lunch.

According to police, Hill said he was awake until 5:30 p.m. and fell asleep while watching a movie. Police said the girl’s mother informed him that she was leaving and that he was “half asleep.”

Hill told officers that his girlfriend was irate when she returned and asked where the toddler was.

According to police, Hill said he had his dog at the house so he thinks the girl “sneaked out when the dog was not looking because he said his dog would have ran out of the house.”