A two-year-old girl from Faithorn, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, went missing after wandering away from her home.
The child, Thea Chase, was accompanied by her two family dogs, Rottweiler Buddy and Springer Spaniel Hartley.
They walked three miles through a wooded area until the young girl apparently grew tired and decided to rest.
Meanwhile, her mother, Brooke Chase, frantically searched for her daughter and the dogs in their family yard and the surrounding woods.
After 15 minutes with no success, Brooke contacted the Michigan State Police’s Iron Mountain post, triggering a search operation involving drones, police dogs, and around 50 local police and residents from Michigan and Wisconsin.
The search began at 8 p.m. and continued into the night until a resident on an ATV discovered the girl, fast asleep approximately three miles from her home at around midnight.
She had used her smaller dog as a pillow while the larger dog kept watch over her. It is unclear what breed the second dog is.
“Thea was actually sleeping on Hartley, while Buddy kept guard and Brutus the guy who found her, actually only found her because of Buddy,” Brooke said.
Lt. Mark Giannunzio described the situation as a “really remarkable story” and emphasized the dogs’ role in keeping the child safe.
Brooke shared her gratitude on Facebook, noting that her baby girl had been safely reunited with the family after terrorizing her mother with a parents worst “nightmare” scenario, thanks in part to their two protective dogs.
“She’s so adventurous and always has been and that makes me nervous for her teenage years,” Brooke told the Daily Mail.
“When she saw me she just laughed and giggled and said ‘Hi mommy!’ As if nothing happened.”
“She said ‘so silly’ And kept giggling and all I could do was ask her ‘did you have fun you silly girl,’ I didn’t want her to know how scared I was because I didn’t want to upset her,” Brooke explained.
