Little Girl Missing
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January 19, 1999 |
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By Glenn Henderson
We received a call from the Sheriff Department that a 5 year old girl had wandered away from a friend’s house during the night. The trailhead was at the Cranston Ranger Station in Valle Vista, East of Hemet. The house she was visiting was next door to the ranger station and it was believed that she had gotten lost in the citrus groves in the hills behind the ranger station and the house. She was reported to be in the company of two large dogs. Hemet Search and Rescue and the Desert Search and Rescue Team from Palm Desert had been on scene all night and had found a good set of prints. With this information we began sending our teams out. We were in the field for about 20 minutes when we got the call to hold our positions. While driving back to base camp, a Sheriff’s Deputy saw our subject in the citrus groves. She was a little cold but was otherwise in great shape. She had spent the night curled up with the two dogs. She was returned to base camp and checked out by American Medical Response Paramedics. She was then turned over to a very relieved family. All the teams met at Hamby's Cafe for breakfast and then off to work.