[Purple]

12-year-old Georgia girl missing in Pa. woods found unharmed

By DANIEL LOVERING
Associated Press Writer

RECTOR, Pa. (AP) -- A 12-year-old Georgia girl accompanied by her family's pet pit bull was found unharmed Friday at a home about four miles from a rocky area in a state park where the two went missing the night before.

Amber Nicole Swanson, of Stephens County, Ga., was visiting family in western Pennsylvania when she went with her brother, two of his friends and the dog to rugged and heavily wooded Laurel Mountain State Park. She and the black and white dog, Onyx, disappeared when the three men left the girl to climb some rocks.
"I'm good," the girl said to reporters as she stepped out of a patrol car to be reunited with her family. Dressed in a black shirt and jeans, she embraced family members but did not otherwise speak to the media.
Swanson and the dog appeared to have walked most of the night, said state police Cpl. Jeff Doman, who picked the girl up at the home and brought her to her family. The corporal and Swanson stopped at a Burger King and Swanson got something to eat before tearfully reuniting with her family.
"She appears to be in good health," state police Sgt. Roger Pivirotto said.
Searchers had set up a perimeter up to three miles from where she disappeared, based on their experience of how far someone her age could travel, said Lee Jordan, a forest fire specialist with the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
The girl was found beyond that search perimeter, apparently having crossed several roads to get to where she was found in a state forest that surrounds the park.
"This is a rough piece of territory up here," said Paul Leasure, a state forest ranger.
Scores of volunteers, search dogs and sheriff's deputies on horseback had combed the park, which is about 45 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, Friday trying to find the girl, who vanished Thursday evening. About 50 people gathered at the area where the rescue crews were based cheered loudly when officials announced that the girl had been found at about 12:40 p.m.
The men she was with said they called out to her, "We'll be right there," while they were climbing the rocks and that she responded, "All right." But she was not there when they returned from climbing at about 7:15 p.m., Pivirotto said.
"I felt she had the will to try and find me," said the girl's brother, Justin Bowers, 22, of Jeannette. "It was a judgment error. We thought she was closer than she was. I just wanted to bring her up there and show her one of my favorite spots, and this happened."
Bowers and his friends - Mitchell Kronen, 19, and Clyde Kuhn, 25, both from Jeannette - searched about an hour before notifying authorities, Pivirotto said.
"I'm so happy she's back," Kronen said.
State police used a helicopter to search the area overnight, and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which runs the state's parks, organized a search party that set out at dawn Friday. The equestrian team from the Somerset County sheriff's office had also searched the rugged terrain on horseback.
State police initially estimated the girl was found 10 miles away, but state forest officials - who are experts in the terrain - said she was less than half that far away.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...07-14-00-15-28

[Vanella]

aww poor kid....geeze tho....if it were a golden they would be yapping up the dog...they barely mention her dog...

[PNWPBR]

I agree with V..... that dog stayed with that kid and got no credit. Bah.

[PitRottMommy]

$#%^, I was expecting a title more along the lines of "FAMILY PITBULL KIDNAPS PRE-TEEN! HOLDING HER HOSTAGE OVER NIGHT!"

Bah.


Sami

[annji]

You're right! That little girl probably would not have been "good" without that dog, but becasue it's a pit no details were given about the dog. I can just imagine him staying close to her and keeping her warm when she was cold.

[mousyie1@optonline.net]

the pitbull deserved credit. Jilly

[Victoria]

Wow, has that girl never heard that if you are lost, stay put!? She was SO far away from where she was first lost. She's very lucky she found a house. Wearing jeans and a t-shirt. That dog must have provided her with warmth overnight, and of course kept her spirits up.

Lucky to learn a lesson this way - where in the end, everyone is ok.