HOLLADAY -- When Debbie Carlsen's poodle Kiki wouldn't stop growling Wednesday night, the computer student picked up the dog and tried to calm it.
But the growling persisted."Then I turned around and saw (a girl) standing in my kitchen," said Carlsen, who lives at 1549 E. 4500 South.
Kayla Magee, a 6-year-old whom police say has been seriously malnourished and shows signs of long-term physical abuse, separated from her family and somehow found her way to Carlsen's home. She had walked through the unlocked back door about 8:30 p.m.
Salt Lake County sheriff's deputies are now trying to locate the girl's mother, Leslie Magee, who has yet to report the child missing, deputy Peggy Fauklner said.
Kayla Magee has been placed in state custody with the Division of Child and Family Services.
Carlsen was immediately struck by the appearance and condition of the little brown-haired girl, who appeared out of nowhere wearing only a T-shirt, shorts and shoes.
"She kept saying, 'I'm going to be fine right here, I'm going to be fine right here,' " Carlsen said. "It only takes like two seconds just looking at her to know that something's not right."
Doctors from Primary Children's Medical Center who examined the girl, characterized her as "severely malnourished," Faulkner said. At 4 feet tall and 6 years old, she weighs just 33 pounds.
Not knowing what else to do, Carlsen asked the child if she was hungry.
Kayla eagerly gulped down four glasses of orange juice, three apples, a pork chop, some rice and several pieces of toast.
When Carlsen picked up the phone to call police, the girl quickly said she didn't want anyone to call her mother.
Faulkner said Leslie Magee has a minor criminal history that includes theft, and that she has had some contact with social workers from DCFS in Davis County for previous child-care problems. The woman apparently uses at least three aliases, including Dipo, Hardcastle, and Jensen, which are thought to be either married or maiden names, Faulkner said.
Police have been unable to locate an address for Leslie Magee.
"We are concerned not only about Kayla, but about her other children," Faulkner said.
Detectives told Carlsen that the girl said she was in a van but became cold and tired of waiting for her mother to return and left.
Carlsen is amazed that Kayla Magee would have stumbled through her back door, which she had forgotten to lock.
"It was the strangest thing. She was just there and to do that, she had to come all the way down my driveway, which is 65 feet, and to the back door . . . and the porch light is burned out," said Carlsen, who insists there is nothing special about what she did for the little girl.
"Anybody would have done it."
Faulkner said that anyone with information about the girl or her mother is asked to call Salt Lake County sheriff's detectives at 535-5991.