Missing 10 Year Old Girl Found Safe After Night in Woods

MISSING 10 YEAR OLD GIRL FOUND SAFE AFTER NIGHT IN WOODS

On Tuesday, March 1, 2011, at 8:48 p.m., the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to a reported missing child incident in the 100 block of Crater View Drive in Silvercreek, Washington.

Deputies arrived on scene at about 9:00 p.m., where they contacted the family of the missing 10 year old girl. Deputies learned the family last saw the girl at about 7:00 p.m. walking around in the yard at the home. Deputies began a search of the area surrounding the home, as well as contacting neighbors in the area.

At about 10:00 p.m., two search K-9’s from Cascade Search Dogs arrived and began a search of the wooded area surrounding the home. By 3:00 a.m., the SAR teams completed their search, however, did not locate the missing child.

Additional deputies arrived at the family home at 5:00 a.m. and were in the process of briefing when a noise was heard. The four deputies on scene then conducted a second search of the wooded area. At about 5:30 a.m., voice contact was made with the missing child. Deputies then climbed down the extremely steep hillside and located the child near the water’s edge.

Due to the terrain and safety for the child, the decision was made to use a boat to evacuate the deputy and the child. A local fishing guide, Don Huntley, was called and he volunteered to assist the Sheriff’s Office with the rescue. The boat rescue was successful and the deputy and the child were transported from the Mayfield Lake Boat Launch back to the family home where the child was reunited with her family.

The young girl only suffered minor scratches and was cold, medical treatment was not necessary.

In debriefing the child, the Sheriff’s Office learned that while walking she had gotten too close to the bank and slipped and fell over the edge. She was not able to climb back up the steep hillside, which forced her to continue downhill approximately 300 yards to the water’s edge where she stayed until located this morning. The mission was completed at 7:00 a.m. this morning.

“This is one of those incidents where time and the weather are working against you and the intense coordinated search effort paid off. The girl was extremely lucky as she was wearing two coats and the weather and temperature was mild compared to the previous day’s snow,” said Sheriff Steve Mansfield.

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