Update: Around 6:30 p.m., Ryan Arden told Southside Daily police located Lillian.
VIRGINIA BEACH — A man is looking for the child of his estranged wife in Virginia Beach.
Ryan Arden, 30, told Southside Daily that 7-year-old Lillian Marie Arden has not been seen for at least four days.
Arden described Lillian as about four feet tall, with blonde hair and blue eyes. He said she weighs between 60 and 75 pounds and has a birth mark on one of her thighs that is about the size of a half dollar.
“She’s the sweetest girl ever,” he told Southside Daily.
Lillian is the child of Arden’s estranged wife. The couple have been separated since 2011, but are not legally divorced. For the first four years of Lillian’s life, Arden believed he was her biological father. When Lillian turned four, he found out he was not, he said.
“I’m on the birth certificate,” Arden told a Southside Daily reporter. “I am the father no matter what.”
Arden hasn’t seen Lillian in about two months. On Saturday he was notified that Lillian’s mother was hospitalized and could not account for her daughter’s whereabouts.
Arden said he spoke with police on Saturday and was under the impression that a missing person’s report had been filed at that time; however, it hadn’t been. He filed an official report with the Virginia Beach Police Department on Tuesday afternoon, he said.
Arden provided a picture of a detective’s card with the date and a case number written on it to Southside Daily, but VBPD officers did not respond to the newspaper to verify the case number before 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
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