Taxi Baby And Mom At Home In Maryland

The baby left at an Elmhurst firehouse and her teenage mother returned home to Maryland last weekend, authorities said.

The baby, six-month-old Daniella Perez, and her mother, 14-year-old Yelemer Cosme Perez headed to the Baltimore area where they will be safe and will receive proper care and protection, Elyn Garret Jones, a spokesperson for the Maryland Department of Social Services, said.

Jones confirmed that Cosme Perez previously ran away from a foster home in Maryland to live with Carlos Rodas, the baby's father. She would not say if mother and daughter would live together in a Baltimore area foster home.

Queens detectives confirmed that the teen has relatives living in Maryland, but were unable to say if the mother or the baby would be reunited with them.

Daniella stole the hearts of city residents on February 28, when Queens livery driver Klever Sailema told firefighters she had been abandoned in his cab by her father.

Sailema later confessed to police that the story was a hoax, cooked up by Sailema, Rodas and Sailema's girlfriend, Maria Siavichay, in an effort to relinquish the baby.

Sailema was charged with falsely reporting an incident and criminal facilitation. Siavichay was also charged with criminal facilitation.

Queens detectives are continuing their search for Rodas, who faces child abandonment and statutory rape charges, due to the mother's age.

Anyone with information on Rodas' whereabouts is urged to call the Crimestoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.

- Liz Goff