Three-year-old Toddler Reunites With Parents After Spending the Night Alone at Poinsett State Park in Wedgefield

Ruby Heider FBI Air Force Sumter County Sheriff's Office DNR SLED Sheriff Anthony Dennis Missing toddler found

By Camille Hutchison , Parent Herald Sep 26, 09:28 am

The three-year-old toddler who had been missing since 7 p.m. on Friday was found roughly a mile from where she went missing for almost 20 frightful hours at Poinsett State Park in Wedgefield, Fox Carolina reported.

Ruby Heider went missing during a camping trip with family and friends. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Air Force, the Sumter County Sheriff's Office, A Do Not Resuscitate (DNR), and State, Local, and Education Contract (SLED) searched through the night and into the following day to find the young girl.

Fortunately, the toddler was found safe but was sadly frightened, cold, and dehydrated. Sheriff Anthony Dennis announced Saturday morning that the little girl was found due to the combined efforts of deputies and several others.

"We brought in our imaging systems, our aviation unit, our drones. We got the State Law Enforcement Division assistance with our aviation as well," Dennis added.

The little girl wandered off while searching for the bathroom

Bloodhounds and even campers spent Friday night seeking the campgrounds. Tracey Hagen, a camper, told the news outlet that she wanted to help look for the missing person, considering that she is a toddler, which means she still needed someone to take care of her. Every camper in the campground, including Tracey and her team, came out with a flashlight and called the toddler's name. They also checked in with every camper at the site knocking on doors and asking if they had seen the toddler.

Rhonda Mason, another camper and concerned citizen, told the outlet that she also began searching after Ruby's mom came by their Recreational Vehicle (RV) while calling out Ruby's name. Poinsett Park is 1,000 acres. According to authorities, the toddler wandered off while searching for the bathroom at the campsite and immediately went missing as she got lost while looking for the comfort room. The family was eating at the time in the park's clubhouse when the little girl wandered.

If your child went missing, immediately report it to the local law enforcement agency and ask the investigators to enter the child's name into the National Crime Information Center Missing Persons File, as there is no waiting period for entry into NCIC for kids below age 18, per OJJDP Report.

Authorities say the little girl was afraid, so she didn't come out

One of the deputies found the young girl walking along the woodline and concluded that the toddler might be scared, considering that she had gone missing for a night. Usually, kids don't go out at night as it's already dark; thus, the environment also plays a big factor.

The Sheriff extended his gratitude to the community for coming to help look for the little girl. According to him, there are more than 150 volunteers, and they even had to turn some away.

A child goes missing or is abducted in the United States every 40 seconds, and approximately 840,000 children are reported missing each year. FBI estimates that between 85 and 90 percent of such numbers are children, per Child Crime Prevention & Safety Center.