ELY- Fire chief David Marshall had wonderful news for the city council here on Tuesday. During the fire department report, Marshall noted that the three-year-old girl who went missing on the morning of March 14 was now healthy and back at home with her family.
As reported in the March 17 edition of the Timberjay, the child wandered out of her home on the 400 block of Washington St. in Ely before dawn in below-zero temperatures. The search for the child pulled in resources from sheriff’s departments of St. Louis and Lake Counties, the Ely Fire Department and Ely Area Ambulance Service, and the Ely, Babbitt and Virginia Police Departments. K9 officer Teddy from the Virginia PD was instrumental in locating the child in a vacant house next door. The child was stabilized for exposure at the Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital and later transported to a facility providing a more advanced level of care.
Since then, the three-year-old has returned home in good health, reported Marshall, who then displayed the colorful construction-paper “card” decorated by the child for the first responders. He also read the thank you card from the child’s parents.
“Your quick action saved her life and kept our hearts from shattering,” read the card in part. “A very special thank you to the volunteer who held our baby girl until the ambulance arrived. We will never forget your heroism. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”