Missing Girl At Center of Custody Case Is Fine: Attorney

Three-year-old Angelina Montes is officially listed as missing by state authorities, but on Tuesday afternoon she played at a park in Miami Beach in front of an NBC 6 news crew.

The child is at the center of custody battle. Her father, Samuel Montes, 22, is in jail and being held on $250,000 bond and a hold for immigration in her disappearance. He is also sentenced to six months in jail for contempt of court for not helping the Department of Children and Families find her.

His attorney, Michael Grieco, told NBC 6 that the paternal grandparents are taking care of the child.

"I was contacted through third parties today and they were the ones that brought the child today, and they did so in an effort to show the child is not in any danger, the child is not being neglected and to show the child has not been harmed," said Grieco.

But according to the FDLE website, she is missing.

"Without any assurances in writing from DCF that the child is not going to be taken from their care, especially with the fear that the child could be taken back to Venezuela, they are not going to do that," Grieco said about handing the child over.

The girl's mother, Vanessa Churon, is in Venezuela. In a phone interview from there Tuesday night, she said she had been cut off from communication with her daughter, but was relieved that Angelina appears OK.

Montes and Churon lived in southwest Miami-Dade County with their young daughter until Churon left in February 2011 due to physical and emotional abuse from Montes, police said. But though Churon has custody of the daughter, Montes’ mother prevented her from taking her with her, Miami-Dade Police said.

Churon said Tuesday that after Montes and his parents refused to give her up, she left the country by herself pregnant with his second child.

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A missing persons report was filed on March 7, 2011 for the daughter. The charge against Montes was filed eight days later, and he was arrested recently in Pensacola on a warrant.

Grieco has said nobody contests that Montes is the father.

According to the warrant for Montes’ arrest, however, Montes twice told a DCF investigator that he would deliver the daughter to the agency, but both times failed to do so, a Miami-Dade Police detective wrote.

Grieco said the issue stems from a clash of cultures. He said both parents are of Gypsy descent.

"These families, within the Gypsy community, have a different way of doing things, and they are scared, and there's a cultural divide there that I am trying to act almost as the middleman between the government and the state of Florida and the families," Grieco said.

Meanwhile, DCF said Tuesday that the investigation continues.

"This is a very serious matter, there is an open DCF investigation," said Lissette Valdes Valle, a DCF spokeswoman. "It is imperative that anyone who has information of the whereabouts of this child needs to report this information to the police immediately so DCF can investigate and make sure the child is safe."

NBC 6's Amara Sohn contributed reporting.