‘Tough’ 10-year-old found after vanishing for 24 hours in remote Washington mountains
A 10-year-old girl was found safe more than a day after she went missing from family on a remote Washington trail, according to a sheriff’s office.
The girl was last seen “playing near the foot bridge over the Cle Elum River” near the Cathedral Rock trailhead around noon on Sunday, June 4, the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.
After arriving at a parking lot to have lunch, the girl’s mother realized she was missing, the girl’s uncle told KOMO News.
“Then (her father) ran back to the other side of the river and started shouting her name,” the uncle told the outlet.
The girl’s family searched for her “before sending someone to drive out, get cell signal and call for help,” deputies said.
Multiple agencies responded to look for the girl, according to the sheriff’s office. However, teams conducting ground and aerial searches did not find the girl.
While searching the following day, a team searching by foot found the girl “with only minor injuries,” deputies said.
She was found about a mile and a half from where she disappeared, KIRO 7 News reported.
Despite spending the night alone in the mountains, the girl is “expected to be fine,” the sheriff’s office said.
“She must be a tough little girl,” Kittitas County Sheriff’s Inspector Chris Whittsett told KIRO 7 News.
This story was originally published June 6, 2023 at 1:26 PM with the headline "‘Tough’ 10-year-old found after vanishing for 24 hours in remote Washington mountains."
