“Did you go on an adventure?” responding Deputy Brian Fortin asked the child.

Weld County Sheriff’s Office

A Colorado father was relieved after his 4-year-old daughter’s unauthorized trip to grandma’s house had a happy ending.

In a Facebook post shared on Friday, Sept. 20, and later shared on X (formerly known as Twitter), the Weld County Sheriff’s Office released a video showing the sweet reunion made possible thanks to a concerned citizen and a responding officer. The Sacramento Bee identified the law enforcement official as Deputy Brian Fortin.

At the beginning of the video, Fortin is seen exiting his patrol vehicle and approaching a woman standing near the side of the road with the little girl.

“Hi, did you go on an adventure?” he cheerfully asked while making his way closer to the two of them.

According to the sheriff’s office social media post, the “4-year-old girl decided to go on an adventure and walk to her grandma’s house. The little girl’s father called 911 and was distraught when he realized she was missing. One of our patrol deputies was near the call, and immediately responded to it.”

The post added that just before Fortin’s arrival, he was informed that “a citizen was out with the missing girl.” The child’s face was blurred out of the footage at the request of her family, who did give their consent to share the video.

“You wanna hop in my car and we’ll go back home?” Fortin asked the child. “Let’s go, sweetie.”

The deputy and the child got in the car and made their way back to her home, where the father could be seen approaching the vehicle to meet them.

The girl’s father, whose identity was not released, let out an inaudible gasp as Fortin assured him that he’d safely located and returned the little girl.

“Give your dad a hug, okay?” Fortin told the girl, who began to cry.

“It’s okay,” her dad added as he extended his arms to console her. “Oh my God,” he said, becoming emotional.

Fortin explained that the child told him “she was trying to walk over to grandma’s house. She was supposed to go to grandma’s house today.”

“No, she wasn’t,” the father said, wiping away tears and picking his child up.

“We share this story with you because we do rely on the public’s support and cooperation during our investigations,” the Weld County Sheriff’s Office said. “A heartfelt thank you goes out to the Weld County community. Your attention to the safety of your fellow community members is greatly appreciated.”

Weld County is approximately a 70-mile drive northeast of Denver.