Video After The Jump
(CNN) -- Rescuers carried an 11-year-old girl out of dense, swampy forest in Florida on Tuesday, four days after she disappeared.
The team, carrying Nadia Bloom in a cloth stretcher, trudged through brush for nearly two hours to bring her out of the area near Lake Jesup, northeast of Orlando, Florida, said Chief Kevin P. Brunelle of the Winter Springs Police Department.
He said that Nadia, who has been described as mildly autistic, was found shoeless and covered in insect bites. She was otherwise in good condition.
"She was not complaining of anything other than the fact that she had insect bites," Brunelle said.
"She did make two comments to the officers when they got there: 'Glad you guys found me, can't believe you rescued me,' " he said.
A paramedic with the group administered intravenous fluids to the girl, he said. Nadia was taken to a hospital for evaluation, and a doctor there said she smiled when she arrived and was "doing wonderfully," CNN affiliate WESH-TV reported.
"Her vitals were stable. She clearly has had the effects of being outside for five days," said Dr. Rakish Parekh at South Seminole Hospital in Longwood, Florida, according to WESH. "But she's handling it very, very well."
A member of the Bloom family's church who was participating in the search found Nadia, who had been missing since Friday, HLN reported.
James King called authorities around 8:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday to tell them that he had found her, Brunelle said.
Authorities used King's cell phone to track down his location, and then had a helicopter fly around the area to find him.
"Mr. King, himself, climbed a tree and was able to throw toilet paper on top of the tree back and forth in order to give us a location," Brunelle said.
"Mr. King is a hero. He led us to her," he said.
He said the rescuers had to chop through bushes and trees to carry Nadia back to where her family and reporters were waiting.
"It just shows the compassion of the human spirit when things like this happen. It should give everyone encouragement," Nadia Bloom's father, Jeff Bloom, told reporters after seeing his daughter.
Nadia was on a bike ride when she stopped to take some pictures and got lost, her father said.
"Our daughter's a nature lover," he said.
Authorities are interviewing King for further details, Brunelle said.
Authorities canceled an Amber Alert for the girl on Tuesday morning; the cancellation said "the case has been resolved" but provided no further details.
Source: CNN
Missing Girl Found Alive
James King Found Girl In Swamp
}
Comments