Girl, 4, found after two days in woods, cared for by her dog
A FOUR-YEAR-OLD girl who went missing in woods in Alabama for 48 hours has been found safe and well, having been protected by her dog.
Evelyn “Vadie” Sides, disappeared while walking Lucy in the eastern city of Auburn last Wednesday as a 70-yearold caretaker, who was watching over the girl, turned her head for an instant.
Family and police feared the worst following the murder of Aniah Blanchard, 19, a college student, late last year. She was abducted outside a convenience store in the city in October and her body was found a month later in woods in Macon County.
A massive search for Vadie was launched with hundreds of volunteers joining police officers, drones and tracker dogs. She was found when Lucy barked, alerting the search party.
“The dog was with her protecting her the whole time,’’ said Andrew Peacock, Lee County Sheriff ’s official.
Lucy bolted when the rescue party arrived, but police are confident she will return home. “We took a walk but then I got too fast and got running and got lost and then I started calling for nanny but nanny was too far,” Vadie said in a video posted by her family.
“I slid down a waterfall… I was brave not to go in,” while the dog ran away.
“I found her because I was going the right direction, because I could smell,” she added. “I slept by a road the first night … and the second night I slept where they found me.”
Jay Jones, the Lee County sheriff, said Vadie was in good shape, responsive and alert.