This week a girl went missing under suspicious circumstances from our neighborhood. Only one set of footprints in the snow outside her bedroom window. She left without shoes, coat, or glasses. At the back of her yard was a walking trail to one of the city parks. A perfectly happy, shy 13 year old with no apparent family strife was not in her bed in the morning and her window was open in the 23 degree weather. Two scenarios were probable. 1)She left her family intentionally, deliberately leaving behind essential items to heighten the drama. or 2)She was kidnapped and was being held against her will- or worse. I joined the search for about 7 hours. My teams covered 4.5 square miles. I tramped through two feet of snow, scaled 4 barbed wire fences, and I was charged by angry horses. The first day I joined the search I was looking for a runaway young woman possibly hiding in a mobile home, shed, or any shelter she could find from the cold. We knocked on doors and checked yards. Best case scenario: She had run away and was safe, hiding somewhere. She probably did not even know we were looking for her. The second day I was much more thorough, looking carefully behind, under, and around every piece of farm machinery, abandoned vehicle, pile of wood, peering into shed windows, under bushes, in ditches, behind garbage cans, down wells. I was looking for a body. Unconsciously, something had changed in my mind overnight. I am reasonable and practical. I decided the more probable of the two scenarios was kidnapping and the awful. I was still hoping and praying for a safe return but in my mind it was the least likely. By this point she should have seen the news coverage, flyers, social media coverage and ect. as a runaway she or her companions could have called. More than a thousand volunteers searched every mile of the 17 miles of our city twice over. I though the foot search was not the most efficient course of action. I had no hope of anyone finding anything. I was out there for the family's sake. I wanted to help them feel peace. If it were my daughter, I would knock on every door and search every inch of the city. I wanted them to know that they did not search alone. Searching was the something that we could do to help and not feel hopeless. We needed to know that we had done all we could. Last night she called her grandmother and was recovered safely. Hundreds of strangers had searched and hundreds more prayed for her safe return. Our prayers were heard and answered affirmatively.
Not every missing child report receives this response. Suspicious circumstances, social media, many loving family members and neighbors and a call to action made this one different. So many missing children are not recovered quickly or safely. I believe that The Lord answers our prayers when he can. Today I don't have to think about depraved individuals who would hurt a child. Thy will be done.
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