The search for a 15-year-old Grayson County girl who walked away from her home Monday night proved fruitful early Tuesday afternoon.
A search crew comprised of the Leitchfield Fire Department, Grayson County Emergency Management, Bluegrass Bloodhounds, an Air Methods helicopter, and numerous family members and volunteers searched for the 15-year-old Amish girl who was last seen in the back yard of her home between 9:45 and 10:00 Monday night.
After being notified of the missing girl, search and rescue personnel arrived at the residence, in the 100 block of Laurel Fork Drive, at about 10:30 Monday night and launched a search on foot, in vehicles and ATVs. A command post, manned by LFD Chief Tim Duvall and Emergency Management Director Tony Willen, was set up on the family’s property.
At 11:35, Duvall requested an Air Methods helicopter, out of Elizabethtown, aid in the search effort. The helicopter, with pilots equipped with night vision goggles, arrived at 12:24 and searched the area for about a half-hour without success, before being forced to return to Elizabethtown because of low fuel.
Bluegrass Bloodhounds, a dog training and breeding facility in Falls of Rough that specializes in tracking dogs, arrived at the missing girl’s residence at about 1:30 Tuesday morning.
Two of the dogs had no success tracking a scent, but at about 4:00 Tuesday morning, one of the dogs caught “a pretty good scent.” The scent was tracking to the rear of the family’s property, which backs up to about a half-mile from the Western Kentucky Parkway.
Officials then sent an older dog to verify the scent that the first dog, a younger tracking dog, located near the back of the family’s property.
Crews who searched the overnight hours were replenished by search and rescue personnel from other county fire departments, and the tracking dogs were aided by the arrival of fresh search dogs (out of Daviess County), according to GC Emergency Management Director Tony Willen.
After searching for about 14 hours, crews located the girl less than a half-mile from her home at approximately noon on Tuesday. She was unharmed but displayed signs of being outside all night. She has been reunited with her family.
Willen said about 125 people participated in the Tuesday morning search.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken@k105.com or 270-259-6000
