SISTERS’ MIRACLE SURVIVAL
TWO sisters who endured 44 hours alone in bearinfested woods relied on basic wilderness training to survive.
Caroline and Leia Carrico stayed alive by drinking water and eating huckleberry leaves.
The girls, aged five and eight, disappeared from their home in California on Friday. They were found less than two miles away.
An emotional video of them being reunited with relatives emerged yesterday. Their parents cried tears of joy as they hugged the girls, before mum Misty said: “You are in so much trouble.”
Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal said: “This was rugged territory. This is an extreme environment and how they were out there for 44 hours is pretty amazing but it shows a resilience of people that actually grew up in this community.
“These girls definitely have a survival story to tell.
“The information we gathered is that they were trained through 4-H for outdoor survival and we believe that did play a part, but we’re only speculating right now.”
The 4-H network is a youth development organisation which teaches skills including camping.
The sisters got lost when they were following a deer trail.
Mr Honsal said: “They were dehydrated and cold but they were well.”