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The hunt for a missing 2½-year-old girl is over.

Dakota Ray was located in Iowa late Thursday and is back in protective custody, Camden, S.C., police said Friday.

"Her parents were arrested on unrelated charges. Thank you to all who helped look for her," said the statement canceling the alert.

Police put out an alert Thursday that the girls' parents, who police say are addicted to methamphetamine, had taken the girl and fled to the Midwest. They were believed to have slipped into Minnesota after a month on the run, authorities said Thursday.

Jessica Ray, 36, and William Ray, 44, were given the girl on April 15 by a relative who has protective custody.

Thursday afternoon, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension reported that the three had been spotted at a gas station in Marshall, Minn.

Police did not elaborate on what would bring the girl and her parents more than 1,200 miles from home.