A 3-year-old girl has been reunited with her family after she went missing during a camping trip in South Carolina, according to authorities.
The missing toddler was found safe “less than a mile from the camp site” the following morning around 11 a.m. local time, the SCSO said ina second statement, shared Saturday afternoon on Facebook.
Sheriff Anthony Dennis said deputies located the little girl as she was “walking along the woodline,” according to CBS affiliateWLTX.
“We were praying that when we located her, that she would be okay,” Dennis said, per the outlet.
Deputies believe the little girl initially did not come out of hiding because she was both lost and scared, the outlet reported.
“We came out with flashlights, we started calling her name,” Hagen explained. “We checked in with every camper at the site knocking on doors, asking if they had seen her.”
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Rhonda Mason told WLTX that once officials with bloodhounds arrived on scene, some campers stepped out of the way and “started praying for the little girl” back at their own campsite.
They were thrilled to learn she had been found the following day. “We were rejoicing,” Mason said, adding, “God is good, all the time.”
“He is thankful to acknowledge that those prayers were answered this morning,” the department said in its second news release.
“There was sufficient [enough] volunteers that many of them did not get an opportunity to help,” the SCSO said.
source: people.com