Missing child found safe

Nearly five hours of searching for a 3-year-old girl and her dog reported missing on Monday morning in western Jackson County ended in success for the girl’s family, according to Jackson County Sheriff Tim Morse.

“It was kind of a terrifying situation when you have a child go missing like that, not knowing exactly what happened,” Morse said. “We had to treat the situation like the girl was definitely in danger.”

Sheriff’s officers were notified of the missing girl, whose first name was listed as Camber and who lives with her mother at a residence north of Delia, at about 9:30 a.m. Monday and responded to the scene, Morse said. Initial reports stated that earlier in the day, the mother noticed Camber was asleep, and she went back to sleep.

“The mother reported waking up and finding her child missing, along with the family’s German shepherd,” he said.

The report set off an extensive search of the area of 166th and E roads for Camber and her dog Skyler that involved several area emergency personnel, agencies and volunteers, all totaling more than 100 people. Morse said volunteers participating searched on horseback, on foot and on all-terrain and utility vehicles.

The Kansas Highway Patrol and Life Star contributed air support to the search, Morse said. Search dogs were also brought in to help locate Camber, including a dog and handler from the Kansas Search and Rescue Group and later deputies and game wardens from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks with their own search dogs.

“We had a really great turnout of volunteers, local people who came to assist and other law enforcement agencies who provided their resources to us,” Morse said. “We had more resources coming from across the state if we needed them.”

At about 2 p.m. that day, Camber was located about two miles away from home.

“The child was found approximately one-quarter mile west of a dead end on 166th Road in a pasture, lying in the grass underneath a tree with her dog,” Morse said.

Following a reunion with her mother, Camber was taken to an area hospital for evaluation, Morse said. 

Other agencies participating in the search included Holton’s police and fire departments; fire departments from Delia, Hoyt, Mayetta, Netawaka, Soldier and the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation; Potawatomi tribal police; Jackson County EMS; sheriff’s officers from Atchison, Brown, Pottawatomie and Riley counties; and the Wamego Police Department.

“It was nice to have such a great response,” Morse said. “Everybody was very helpful.”

Morse also said the underlying reason why Camber wandered off, setting off the search, was unclear.

“I don’t know if there was a real motivating factor, other than she was bored, mom was asleep, and she decided to go for a walk and got lost,” he said.

The Holton Recorder

109 W. Fourth St.
Holton, KS 66436
Phone: 785-364-3141
 

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