Police locate father of 9-year-old girl found on TTC bus at 3:30 a.m.

A nine-year-old girl found riding a Toronto transit bus alone at 3:30 a.m. will remain in the care of the Toronto Children's Aid Society while police investigate. 

Police said Tuesday that they have spoken with the girl's father.

"We're trying to find out some answers so we can figure out what is best for this child at this point," Toronto police Const. Allyson Douglas-Cook told CBC News Tuesday. 

"There are a lot of questions that are still unanswered."

A TTC bus driver called police from the downtown intersection of Yonge and Adelaide just before 3:30 a.m. A passenger had alerted the driver about the girl, who was riding the bus alone. 

Unclear where girl boarded

Police arrived at the scene and interviewed the girl and the bus driver. It took until 10 a.m. for the police to learn the identity of the girl's father, who has since been interviewed by police. 

Douglas-Cook said police do not yet know where the girl boarded the bus or why.

"It was a little bit of a challenge getting all the details," she said. "We're trying to determine exactly what led to this nine-year-old being by herself on a transit bus at 3:30 in the morning."

TTC Spokesperson Brad Ross said the protocol for drivers in situations like this is to contact transit control, and subsequently police, immediately. In this case, the transit agency is helping with the police investigation. 

Ross said incidents involving passengers in distress happen more often than most people think, though this is a dramatic case.

Operators, Ross said, are "always looking out" for people on their bus and any trouble should be reported to them.