Missing girl, 11, found, taken to hospital with hypothermia

An 11-year-old girl suffering from hypothermia and other injuries was rushed to hospital after being found face down near a frozen slough outside the Saskatchewan community of Bankend.

RCMP said the Wynyard detachment received a call at 5:13 p.m. Thursday from a mother about her missing daughter.

Police say the mother was away from the residence and the girl had been home sick, and that the girl was believed to have left the residence on her own between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. When the mother returned home, she saw footprints in the snow.

“After following the tracks as far as she could and checking with neighbours, the mother called police for assistance,” RCMP said.

The search had been underway for approximately two hours when a local volunteer found a set of tracks just outside the search area.

The volunteer followed the footprints in a 4x4 truck across a field, through light bush and toward a slough approximately six kilometres outside of the hamlet, where searchers “located the girl collapsed face down in the snow but still alive,” RCMP said.

An RCMP spokesman on Friday said the girl remained in hospital.

The wind chill around the time was approximately -17 C. The spokesman said the girl was dressed appropriately for the weather and wearing winter clothing when she was found.

Bankend is about 160 kilometres northeast of Regina.