One of your children going missing must be one of the most dreadful experiences a parent can have.
As a parent, your first impulse is to love and protect your child at all costs, therefore it’s not long until fear sets in when they’re gone and you can’t do anything about it.
Timberlyn Merritt is a busy stay-at-home parent with three children. Remy, her three-year-old daughter, is always on the move, and her Yorkie, who is one year old, is never far behind.
Timberlyn Merritt’s 3-year-old daughter went away last summer, and the Missouri mother was in complete shock.
Everything happened so quickly that the mother barely had a few seconds to realize what had transpired.
Timberlyn’s small child vanished without a trace, and not only was it late at night, but Timberlyn and her family lived next door to a massive and dense cornfield…
Timberlyn responded in the same way that most parents do when their kid dies: with shock and a beating heart.
Remy’s mother searched for her daughter when she realized she was missing, but when she couldn’t find her, she called the cops.
She dialed 911 to report her daughter missing, then dashed into the dark cornfields, screaming her daughter’s name at the top of her lungs.
Timberlyn recounted, “I was marching through like this (and screamed, “Remy! Remy! Remy!”).
The distraught mother assumed Remy had followed her Yorkie, Heath, into the stalks.
In the heartbreaking conversation, Timberlyn informed the dispatcher, “We can’t locate her anywhere.”
Fortunately, she was not alone in her desperate search for her daughter.
When word of Remy’s absence got out, everyone in the little agricultural village pitched in to help find him. The hunt for the missing girl drew more than 140 individuals.
Clark Parrot, a Missouri State Highway Patrol sergeant, revealed in an interview with ABC News:
“Everyone here knows everyone else, so if one of your neighbors is in danger, whether you know them or not, you just stop what you’re doing and show up.”
Throughout the night, volunteers and public safety personnel, as well as a search-and-rescue helicopter, infrared radar, and police hounds, scoured everywhere… without success
The hunt resumed the next morning, 12 hours after Remy vanished. People seldom go missing for more than a day, and over three-quarters of those who go missing are located within 24 hours.
The likelihood of their coming home safely decreases over time, especially if they are vulnerable. The first 72 hours, police warn, are important.
Fortunately, in the midst of the hunt for Remy, one of the K-9s gave out a bark, signaling a breakthrough.
A weaker bark was returned around half a mile away from Remy’s house, concealed behind the 5-foot-high corn stalks…
Remy was discovered fast sleeping between grain silos half a mile from her house, with her dog Heath at her side.
Remy’s ecstatic mother took her to the doctor, who declared she was fine despite multiple bug bites.
She was fatigued, sweaty, and extremely sweet, and it took her a long time to drink anything. She had a lot of bites and was thirsty, but she was given a clean bill of health and was returned to her home shortly after.
Heath, the family’s beloved terrier, had followed Remy on her late-night cornfield trip and had remained by her side throughout.
Heath retaliated with a bark of his own when he heard the K9-dog bark. It’s difficult to determine if Remy would have been found if he hadn’t informed the rescuers.
Because Heath was present, Remy stated that she was not afraid. “I think she would’ve been afraid if he wasn’t,” the small girl told reporters.
Dogs make incredible best pals!