TAMARAC, Fla. -- Authorities found an 8-year-old girl and her mother, who police believe took her two daughters from foster care in the Philadelphia area in October, hiding in a cardboard box Tuesday morning.

According to the Broward Sheriff's Office, code enforcement Officer Joseph Scimeca found Tammy Kongkham and her 8-year-old daughter, Kimberly, at a rear loading dock at Old Time Pottery on West Commercial Boulevard and State Road 441 in Tamarac on Tuesday morning.

BSO said Tammy Kongkham was wearing a long, black wig in order to disguise herself.

"(The child) was scared. She was curled up on the Styrofoam piece of pallet she was on. She didn't say anything, and the mother didn't say anything either," Scimeca said.

Police took the mother and daughter to the BSO Tamarac District Office to confirm their identities before transporting them to the Public Safety Building. Kimberly Konkham had bug bites all over her face, Local 10's Julie Summers reported.

The situation left Scimeca, a former New York police officer, in disbelief.

"We're not a Third World country. There are places for people to go when they need help," Scimeca said. "It was just heartbreaking.”

BSO and Fort Lauderdale police interviewed Tammy Kongkham on Tuesday afternoon while Kimberly was examined at a hospital.

BSO said it is conducting an active criminal investigation along with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department and the FBI.

Police said they believe Tammy Kongkham took her 10-year-old daughter, Kelley, and Kimberly from foster care in Pennsylvania and brought them to South Florida, where they lived on Fort Lauderdale Beach.

The mother thought they would be caught if they stayed together, police said, so she sent her older daughter her own way about two weeks ago. On Dec. 4, 10-year-old Kelley Kongkham caught the attention of guards at the Galleria mall because she was begging for food. It took nearly five days for the child to tell police what had happened to her.

After Kelley Kongkham was found, BSO asked for the public's help in finding her mother and younger sister last week.

Kelley Kongkham has been sent back to Philadelphia with officials from the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare. BSO said the Florida Department of Children and Families will care for her sister Kimberly.

Tammy Kongkham faces charges in Florida that could include child abandonment and neglect. In Pennsylvania, she could face charges of kidnapping. BSO said she would remain at the Main Jail pending a transfer to Philadelphia.