Losing your child is the scariest thing that could happen to any parent, and that is exactly what one parent from South Bristol, New York felt.
Brian Hotchkiss, a New York State Trooper, recalled racing against time to search for a missing 2-year-old girl.
“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. I’ll never forget that,” New York State Trooper Brian Hotchkiss said.
On March 27, police were called to rescue a missing child. It was getting dark and cold, and they wanted to get the search done as soon as possible. Additional assistance, which included Hotchkiss, was called since the police had trouble locating the girl.
“These missing kids, it can go really bad. It’s time-sensitive depending on the time of year, so although it was a nice day, the temperature was dropping,” he said.
Hotchkiss and two other troopers decided to look further and climb Bristol Mountain since they had no luck finding the girl in any of the neighbors’ houses. The mountain was only a half-mile from the girl’s home, so they thought she might have wandered around that area.
“I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if I didn’t check. I kept climbing and climbing after about 45 minutes of the climb, I looked up to the summit of the mountain, and all I could see were trees and dirt,” he said.
Not giving up, Hotchkiss continued to look around, and that was when he noticed something in the trees that seemed odd.
“My heart just dropped. I was so excited. She hugged me immediately and wouldn’t let go. We’re very thankful for it.”
Fortunately, Hotchkiss found the girl 30 minutes before the sunset starts.
“I’ve seen these go really bad. We weren’t giving up. We were fearing the worst was going to happen. Her turning and looking at me, throwing her hands up in the air, that’s something I’ll never forget,” he said.
Everyone is thankful for the troopers and the police’s efforts for the little kid. No one knows what might happen next if they did not find her immediately.