New footage from a police search and rescue mission has revealed the exact moment that officers recover a 2-year-old girl who was lost in the dense woods after going missing overnight.
Toddler, Kamiyah Vicks, went missing on Tuesday night in Port Wentworth, Georgia and spent about 15 hours in the woods near her home before she was recovered by police, according to PEOPLE.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“It was extremely hot, inching toward 100 degrees on Wednesday. We were very, very concerned for her safety,” Savannah Police Department spokesperson Bianca Johnson told the outlet. “[Port Wentworth police] pretty much called all the neighboring jurisdictions in to help.”
Emergency responders from multiple departments, as well as numerous volunteers, all set about searching for the young girl, but it was Savannah police recruits Robert Parker, Ernest Mobley and Luis Esquina who finally located her.
“They came in and they formed a line … and just started walking through the woods. At that point, they were not only looking for her, but any type of clue that she might have been in that area,” Johnson explained, noting that it took the team of officers about 90 minutes to locate the child.
“They heard a cry and, when they did, they knew that it was a human cry and not an animal,” Johnson added. “They took off running and found her. She was hidden in a brush and you could see them pull her out of it.”
“Anyone could’ve found her, they just happened to be in the right place at the right time to hear that yell for help,” Johnson went on to say.
Kamiyah was taken to a local hospital and examined, with the medical personnel treating her for some minor cuts but ultimately finding her to be doing “miraculously” well.
“She was in very good condition considering the fact that she had been in the woods alone overnight,” Johnson stated. “You’ve got rattlesnakes, bugs, spiders, everything.”
The Savannah Police Department shared the clip of Kamiyah being rescued on their Facebook page, along with a caption that game details on the situation and the heroes who found the child.
“The three recruits who found her — Robert Parker, Luis Esquina and Ernest Mobley — have been through a whirlwind since then,” the caption reads in part. “On top of the joy from finding her, they have experiencing an unending amount of interviews from local and national media outlets today.”
“These officers are so early in their careers at SPD, and we can’t wait to see what other great things they will do for the department,” the caption adds “They will officially graduate from Patrol School and get their official SPD badges in August.”
Esquina spoke with journalists after the harrowing rescue, saying that it “was a relief” to find her, and adding “It’s a 2-year-old baby, so I thank God every single day that He’s able to bless us and help us to get to where we’re at, and I thank God He was there on our side today.”
