A 10-year-old girl, identified as Shughla Mashwani is now home after spending the night alone in a forest after she was reported missing on Sunday near Cathedral Rock in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in Kittitas County.
THE GIRL WAS REPORTED MISSING AFTER A FAMILY HIKE
The girl went missing while hiking in the area with family members who drove out of the area on Sunday to alert authorities at about 1:45 pm Sunday. Deputies from the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office didn’t waste any time in starting a search.
A MASSIVE SEARCH PARTY WAS QUICKLY ORGANIZED TO FIND THE GIRL
Inspector Christopher Whitsett with the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office says a large air and ground search search operation involving five county agency resources was organized quickly. “We very quickly had drones, K-9’s, ground searchers and 4x4s. We also had resources from numerous counties as well as helicopters from Spokane and King County that staged out of the Cle-Elum airport.”
THE GIRL SPENT ONE NIGHT ALONE IN THE REMOTE WILDERNESS
Searchers looked for the girl Sunday evening and into Monday morning locating her on Monday afternoon near Hyas Lake after she spent the night alone in the forest. Searchers at first couldn’t contact each other because of the remoteness of the area that left them with no radio signals. But crews were able to use Starlink and help from a cell company to establish lines of communication between searchers at the scene. Officials say the girl was first reported to be 7-year-old but her age was corrected by family members.
HIKING WITH KIDS SOON? KEEP YOUR EYES ON CHILDREN
Rescuers say it’s a good lesson to learn for parents and others who hike in the wilderness. They say constantly keep track of the people in your party especially children when hiking in remote areas.
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