FAITHORN, Mich. – A 2-year-old girl who walked away from her home in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula alongside two family dogs was found in the woods hours later sleeping on the smaller dog like a furry pillow, state police said.
“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. “It’s a really remarkable story.”
Troopers used drones and police dogs in the search while local police and citizens from both Michigan and adjacent Wisconsin helped look for the girl in the remote wooded area.
Troopers from Michigan State Police’s Iron Mountain post had been called to a home in the Faithorn area of Menominee County about 8 p.m. Wednesday after the girl wandered away.
Around midnight, a citizen on an ATV found the girl about 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) from her home, state police said.
Giannunzio said the girl was checked by medical staff and appeared to be in good health.
Faithorn is an unincorporated village located just east of the Wisconsin state line and about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southwest of Marquette, Michigan.
There’s losing sight, and then there’s trying to find it. I remember a short video where a toddler was wandering straight for a road, and someone happened to prevent a tragedy, and mom came running out of the house as the camera was still rolling.
People were calling negligence, what a terrible mom, yadda yadda. No, that mom was running around the house looking for her kid, frantic as time passed. You just don’t think they can open the door that early. Manipulating a door latch or knob is a developmental milestone, plus, what if the door didn’t properly latch? Mom could just as easily looked outside first, but that would be counterintuitive.
Also, “I thought you had him/her?” Is a real thing.