Trooper Finds Missing 2-Year-Old Girl At Top Of Mountain In Chilling Rescue

Our police officers have often gone above and beyond their duty to protect and serve their communities and now they helped rescue a missing 2-year-old girl in the most amazing way.

March 27, was the worst day for a South Bristol, New York, family when their 2-year-old girl went missing.

“These missing kids, it can go like, just, really bad. It’s very time-sensitive depending on the year, so it was, it was — though it was a rather nice day, the temperature was dropping,” New York State Trooper Brian Hotchkiss said.

“The mountain was virtually in their backyard, and I mean there were streams and ponds and, you know, all these things that, you know, we were all worried about.”

Authorities searched the neighbors’ homes but found nothing, a drone team, a K-9 and other investigators also arrived to help with the search.

Hotchkiss and two other troopers decided to climb the nearby mountain to see if they could spot the little girl. After about an hour, he reached the top of the mountain and saw a “pink dot” amidst the gray mountain colors.

He treaded down carefully following the stream and hoping that she was okay. “She was laying on her stomach on a rock and I ran over to her as quick — calling her name,” Hotchkiss said. “Ran over to her as quick as possible.”

“I saw her arm move and I knew she was alive and my heart just dropped and I was so — I was so excited and I ran up and she hugged me immediately and she wouldn’t let go and I got on my radio and I alerted everyone — all the searchers — that I located her at the top of the mountain.”

The girl held on to him and was crying and shivering. “We got her down to the — to the base as quickly as possible and, you know as safely as possible also, where she was treated by the Canandaigua Ambulance and my understanding is transported to the hospital for a basic check over,” Hotchkiss explained.

“Trooper Sterk had, you know, wrapped her in his uniform to keep her warm and I’m just … I’m blessed that it worked out the way it did.”

Everyone was relieved that the young girl was safe and well and it’s still not clear if she went home or not, but sources did say she was safe and healthy.

“On Saturday, Troopers from SP Canandaigua assisted the Ontario County Sheriff’s Office in a search for a missing two-year-old in the town of South Bristol,” the New York State Police Facebook page shared on March 29, along with a photo of the toddler clinging to her hero.

“After about an hour of searching, Trooper Brian Hotchkiss found the child sitting on a rock, in the middle of a stream. Cold, but alert, Troopers carried the girl back home to safety.”

The one most affected was Hotchkiss, “I still can’t get that out of my head, her turning over and looking at me and throwing her hands up in the air,” he said, “and I’ll … it’s something I’ll never forget.”