Quiet is normally the hallmark of any good hunting trip. The natural sounds of trees swaying in the breeze and the rustling leaves are all that you want to hear when you’re looking for a deer. So when a cry echoed through the woods, not only did this hunter realize he was surrounded by something other than the animal he was there to hunt, but he soon realized he’d have to go and seek out this strange sound.

Sara Alice Grice had been laying down for a nap. The 2-year-old girl, however, had other ideas it seems. Her parents, Mekayla and Gary, said Gary left the house through the backdoor. When Gary returned, the family immediately realized Sara was gone. “Gary’s mother was visiting us (and) he walked her out to the car (through) the back door,” Mekayla said.

Within four minutes of his mother pulling out, he came inside and said, ‘Where’s Sarah?’”

After calling the police, Sara’s horrified parents realized deer hunters were active in the woods around their home. “It was a scary thought because what if someone sees movement and doesn’t realize it’s a child,” Mekayla said. The parents called 911 after searching the house for ten minutes. The girl’s disappearance spurred a large search party of family, friends and first responders.

Rescuers and volunteers arrive to search the woods near missing girl Sara Grice’s home. Photo courtesy of Newberry County Sheriff’s Office

Mekayla said that police told her that “someone came over the radio and said a hunter had called 911 about a child” they had found. “They returned with the description and it matched what she was wearing,” she said. “So we immediately jumped up and a police officer went running and we just had to wait until they could get to her.”

When police arrived, Sara was unharmed and being cared for by a group of hunters. Newberry County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement: “Around 6pm, a deer hunter heard her crying. He called Newberry County 911, which began to track them through our mapping technology. A search team found the hunters and the little girl in a wooded area almost a mile from her home.”

Sara was reunited with her parents. Photo from YouTube

Authorities said that her discovery was “truly a miraculous find.” “Other than being tired, thirsty, and frightened, the little girl was in good shape,” they said. Her family was equally amazed that the little girl had managed to go in a completely different direction from the house than they had expected. “In our brains, if she was going to be found in the woods, it was going to be straight back,” Mekayla said.

To have gone a mile in a completely different direction is just astounding.”

“We thank all the first responders, citizens, clergy, and people offering prayers for your help. It was truly a miraculous find. Emergency Service personnel from all over the county participated along with the Sheriff’s Office, Newberry City Police, and SLED. Thank you all.” Sheriff Lee Foster said that Sara had simply “walked out of the home on her own,” adding that “she was lost and was found.” What a happy ending to what was a terrifying experience for this family. Watch below to see the family discuss their ordeal.

Sources: People | Mirror | WISTV