DORCHESTER — Rescuers found a 2-year-old girl on Friday evening after an hours-long search that included more than 90 volunteers.
At about 4 p.m. on Friday, approximately 45 minutes after she went missing, the girl’s mother called 911, who notified New Hampshire State Police and New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, Conservation Officer Sgt. Christopher McKee said on Monday.
Shortly before she went missing, the girl had been playing with her family’s two dogs in the fenced-in yard of their home along New Hampshire Route 118, near Green Woodlands, a park with hiking trails.
One section of the fence was made of wood, while the other was made of metal wire. At the time the girl went missing, the part of the fence where the metal and wooden sections met had come undone, as if “someone pushed the fence open,” McKee said.
He suspects the dogs pushed through the fence and the girl pursued them.
At the time she went missing, the girl’s mother was inside the house taking care of the family’s baby, McKee said.
The girl’s parents could not be reached for comment on Monday.
New Hampshire State Police arrived at the scene at approximately 4:30, followed shortly afterward by New Hampshire Fish and Game, McKee said.
State troopers, the Upper Valley Search & Rescue Team, New England K9 Search & Rescue, Canaan, Grafton and Rumney volunteer fire departments, and other emergency services were also involved in the search.
More than 90 volunteers helped search the wooded area near the family’s house.
At roughly 7 p.m., a State Police helicopter arrived at the scene and began to scan a large swamp close to the home.
Shortly after, the two dogs returned to the house without the toddler.
At 7:52 p.m., a member of the New England K-9 Search and Rescue and a K-9 rescue dog found the girl about a quarter mile from her house, near the swamp. She was wearing a sweater and leggings, but no shoes, which had been located an hour and a half earlier, McKee said.
“The child was cold, but very happy to see the canine and Search Team,” a news release from New Hampshire Fish and Game stated.
Emergency responders took the girl to a Canaan ambulance that transported her to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center to be evaluated.