Leia and Caroline Carrico, 8 and 5 years old, were having fun in a forest near their home in Northern California. They were following a deer trail when they wandered too far from their house and got lost in the forest.
All they had on their persons was rubber boots and a few snacks, so their family was understandably worried when they didn’t come home on Friday.
Their parents sensibly called the National Guard, the fire service, search and rescue teams with dogs, police helicopters, and military vehicles. But they had little luck.
Every hour, the chances of finding the girls alive grew slimmer, and the chances of them succumbing to starvation, dehydration, and hypothermia grew higher.
Forests are unforgiving environments for anyone, let alone two children, but this clever pair thought about the training they had received at their local 4-H club.
Unbeknownst to their parents and authorities, the girls were rationing their stock of granola bars and using their skills to stay as healthy as possible.
Eventually, the authorities found boot prints and the wrappers from their granola bars in the woods, and were able to use these to locate the pair! Lt. Mike Fridley told CBS News. that “the wrappers showed us a direction from where they started to where the wrappers ended up at.” He also described it as a “miracle”.
They were eventually found keeping warm under a bush, a whole two days after they went missing. Well done to these young girls for their quick thinking and application of survival skills while looking out for each other. Let us know what you think about this inspirational story in the comments.
