A 2-year-old Michigan girl wandered away from her home with the family’s two dogs – and was found hours later sleeping peacefully in the woods while using one of the pooches as a pillow.
State troopers from the Iron Mountain post in the Upper Peninsula were called to the home in the Faithorn area of Menominee County about 8 p.m. Wednesday after the girl, identified as Thea Chase, walked off.
Police launched a search using drones and K-9s as citizens from both Michigan and adjacent Wisconsin assisted in the remote wooded area.
About midnight, a person riding an ATV discovered Thea about 3 miles away.
A 2-year-old girl who walked away from her home in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula alongside two family dogs was found in the woods hours later sleeping on the smaller dog like a furry pillow, state police said. Brooke Chase/Facebook
The girl’s family called the police to report that she had wandered away at around 8 p.m. on Wednesday. WJMN“She laid down and used one of the dogs as a pillow, and the other dog laid right next to her and kept her safe,” state police Lt. Mark Giannunzio said Thursday. “It’s a really remarkable story.”
Thea’s mom, Brooke Chase, told WJMN-TV that the family frantically searched for the missing girl before contacting authorities.
“I realized she was missing and I’m telling her uncle, and I said, ‘Where is she?’” Chase told the outlet. “We’re searching all around the yard, up and down the roads, screaming at the top of our lungs her name, calling for the dogs because the dogs were missing, too.
Troopers used drones and police dogs in the search while local police and citizens from both Michigan and adjacent Wisconsin helped look for the girl. Alex Chase/Facebook
Around midnight, a citizen on an ATV found the girl about 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) from her home, state police said. WJMN“It’s completely wooded. Deep, thick woods around here. There’s a swamp over there, so of course we’re, like, freaking out. And after about 15 minutes of searching for her with our friends and family, I called the cops,” she said.
“I was in such a fog and in such a shock that she was literally gone, in a split second,” Chase added.
Thea was checked by medical staff after her canine adventure and appeared to be in good health, according to Giannunzio.
Faithorn is an unincorporated village located just east of the Wisconsin state line and about 60 miles southwest of Marquette, Michigan.
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