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Before being found, Kamiyah Vicks
Georgia police came to the aid of a missing 2-year-old girl who survived a long night in the woods in the thick Georgia brush – much taller than she was – before being rescued.
Kamiyah Vicks was lost for at least 15 hours, reports PEOPLE. Little Kamiyah was reported missing in Port Wentworth on Tuesday night after wandering into a dangerous, wooded area that borders the Lakeshore neighborhood where she and her mother live.
“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 PEOPLE. “[Port Wentworth police] pretty much called all the neighboring jurisdictions in to help.”
According to Major Lee Sherod from the Port Wentworth Police Department, the baby’s mother was seen pushing her daughter in her stroller around 5 p.m. on Tuesday and then seen again around 7 a.m. on Wednesday without the child. The mother is the one who initially called the police about the missing child. When they arrived, they found her unconsolable.
Once on the scene, the search team found the stroller and the mother’s flip-flops near a neighborhood pond making them fear the worst.
Concerned firefighters, volunteers and police scoured the area in search of the toddler who was eventually found crying and sitting deeply embedded among tall bushes.
Body camera footage showed a group of Savannah newly appointed police recruits — Robert Parker, Ernest Mobley and Luis Esquina approaching an area and to their surprise heard her crying just before 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Johnson said.
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“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 says, noting that it took the group about one and a half hours to find Vicks.
“They heard a cry and, when they did, they knew that it was a human cry and not an animal,” Johnson explains. They took off running and found her. She was hidden in a brush and you could see them pull her out of it.”
The video footage of the rescue was shared on Facebook and captured the hearts of social media.
“That’s a child!” and “Where is she?!” could be heard on the video as the rescuers approached and found Vicks.
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“She was in very good condition considering the fact that she had been in the woods alone overnight,” Johnson said. “You’ve got rattlesnakes, bugs, spiders, everything.”
To the relief of all responders, the baby was wrapped and taken to a local hospital where she was “miraculously” in good condition and just fine except for a few minor cuts and bruises.
“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 said.
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