A 2-year-old toddler who wandered away from her home in Michigan on Wednesday was found safe and sound thanks to two family dogs, according to multiple reports.
After several hours missing, the girl was found asleep by authorities using the smaller dog of the two as a pillow, according to ABC News.
“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,” Lt. Mark Giannunzio said Thursday, per ABC News. “It’s a really remarkable story.”
The toddler — identified by local news station WJMN as Thea Chase — was first reported missing in Faithorn at about 8 p.m Wednesday, per the outlet.
“So, I realized she was missing and I’m telling her uncle, and I said, ‘Where is she?’”, the child’s mother, Brooke Chase, told the outlet during a video interview. “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,” she added.
“We’re [searching] everywhere around here,” she continued. “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 fifteen minutes of searching for her with our friends and family, I called the cops.”
Thea went on to tell the outlet that authorities had used drones and dogs in the search for her daughter.
“I was in such a fog and in such a shock that she was literally gone, in a split second,” she added.
According to the Detroit Free Press, the search for the child in the woods was aided by troopers using drones and rescue dogs, as well as local police and citizens from both Michigan and nearby Wisconsin.
At about midnight, she was found around three miles away from home by a local riding on an all-terrain vehicle (ATV), per ABC News. According to the Detroit Free Press, Giannunzio said the girl was assessed by medical staff and appeared to be healthy.
A Michigan State Police public information officer tells PEOPLE that the the smaller dog she was using as a pillow was a cocker spaniel, while the bigger dog, a rottweiler, was in “guardian mode.”
FULL STORY: https://people.com/missing-toddler-found-safe-in-woods-using-dog-as-pillow-7973309
