DUBBERLY, La. (KNWA/KFTA) — A 10-year-old missing for 24 hours was found safe in a dense, wooded area of Louisiana thanks to an Arkansas drone company that joined the search.
The girl was last seen at her bedtime Sept. 14, wearing her pajamas.
When there was still no sign of the girl the next morning, Josh Klober, co-owner of Drone Management Services of Magnolia, Arkansas, couldn’t ignore the news. His phone and social media were blowing up as hours went by and there was no news of her whereabouts.
Klober looked at his wife and said “I feel like we need to go down there.” They made the trip an hour and a half away from home.
Hundreds of volunteers, helicopters, tracking dogs and off-road utility vehicles were already on the ground helping the search. Klober waited until the police told him they needed him.
“There’s big wooded areas around but I’m trying to think like a 10-year-old,” Klober said. “I think she was walking by the road supposedly and I didn’t figure she’d get too far off it, so I just kind of wanted to stay 30-40 yards off the road.”
As it turns out, Klober was in the right place, and his thermal imaging equipment captured the little girl, still dressed in her “Frozen” pajamas, lying on the ground.
Klober initially saw the girl not moving, so he held his reaction until first responders made their way and he finally saw her move.
“She’s awake!” someone can be heard shouting in the drone recording.
Webster Parish Sheriff Jason Parker said she was found around 11 p.m.
Police told “Good Morning America” that they believe the girl had sleepwalked into the woods. The 10-year-old’s family reportedly said she has a history of sleepwalking, but had never left the house before.
Multiple agencies came to help the search, including the Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office, Minden Police Department, Minden Fire Department, Homeland Security, DeSoto Parish Sheriff’s Office, Bienville Parish Sheriff’s Office, David Wade Correctional Center’s Chase Team and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
“I can’t tell you how thrilled we all are to have a happy ending to this,” Parker said in a statement on Facebook. “A lot of prayers were answered today.”
