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Burglars Burst Into Home, Girl Hides In Closet

HIALEAH (CBS4) – Two burglars bursting into a Hialeah house sent the 12-year-old inside diving for cover in a closet Monday.

Cynthia Valdes said she called her dad when she heard two men banging on the front door. Her father told her to hide inside a bedroom closet and call 911. By the time she had done so, the men had broken into the home and were ransacking it.

Cynthia said at first she thought of the worst.

"They were gonna get me and take me away and I wasn't gonna see my parents again or anybody in my family," she said.

Fortunately that didn't happen. The young girl was able to remain calm enough to describe everything to police as it unfolded.

"It was very scary she was very scared on the phone," said Albert Gonzalez, her brother. "But she's a very strong courageous girl."

When officers arrived they say Michel Torres and Pedro Estrada were running out of the front door of the home  in the 900 block of West 79th Street. Investigators are questioning the pair to see if they can be linked to a host of similar crimes in the area.

But police can't seem to say enough about the brave little girl.

"She did a great job, she did a phenomenal job," said Det. Eddie Rodriguez of the Hialeah Police Department.  "She locked herself in a room. She was very quiet. She called 911."

(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. )

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