Police find missing girl aged 6

Police helicopter finds missing six year old girl

“Have you got her?” asked the helicopter crew. “Yes, yes she’s alive and well,” came the reply from relieved officers searching on the ground.

This was the dramatic moment the National Police Air Service’s South West Region team was able to spot a missing six year old using their infrared camera system. The small black dot in the centre of the image right, is the girl lying asleep in a farm field next to a tree.

The drama unfolded on the night of Saturday August 14th when the youngster was reported missing from her rural home in the Umberleigh area around 9.30pm. A massive search swung into action, including police dog handlers from the Devon & Cornwall force. The police helicopter spotted her asleep in a field more than half a mile away from her home at around 10.40pm.

Image: NPAS

A spokesman for the National Police Air Service said, “In this instance, a massive team effort from the police control room, the police officers on the ground and the officers in the air got this child home safely to her terrified parents.”

The young girl was taken to hospital to be checked over as a precaution before being returned home, ending what officers described as “every parent’s worst nightmare”.

Image: NPAS Above - the girl lying asleep in a remote field and below, woken by the helicopter hovering overhead she walks towards officers on the ground

Image: NPAS