A six-year-old girl who went missing from her home about 250 kilometres west of Prince George was located safe on Sunday evening after a massive search effort involving several Vancouver Island search-and-rescue crews.
Resources from across the province were enlisted in the search to find the child who lives in a small community not far from Burns Lake in central B.C.
The girl, who is on the autism spectrum and non-verbal, was found on Sunday night around 6 p.m.
A video posted to Facebook show a woman appearing to embrace the child, who was covered in several layers of clothing and blankets
Police said she was in a forested area between her home and the First Nation band office.
The area had already been searched, police said, and searchers believe she was likely moving around during the time she was missing, so she may not have been in the area when it was first searched.
RCMP Staff Sgt. Joshua Smith said her discovery was the outcome they all had hoped for, and everyone searching remained dedicated to bringing her home safely.
The girl was last seen outside her home wearing a red-and-blue-plaid dress, leggings and pink socks. Police made no mention of a coat in their description of the girl and temperatures had dipped below 10 C overnight in the Burns Lake area.
Hundreds of people checked into the Skin Tyee First Nation band office over the past four days where the First Nation, RCMP, search-and-rescue crews from across B.C. and family co-ordinated the search effort.
By Saturday, police said crews from the RCMP, BC Wildfire Service and search and rescue were helping those who had volunteered for the search.
A helicopter, police dogs and drones were also being used to help find the girl.
“We are thankful for the support of all our partner agencies and volunteers who worked day and night to achieve this outcome," Smith said in a statement.
Six members of Nanaimo Search and Rescue and two canine search dogs were flown out to the Burns Lake area for the search, as well as members of Comox Valley Search and Rescue and Campbell River Search and Rescue command staff.
