Missing Girl Found Safe After Search At Hempstead Park

Style Magazine Newswire | 4/25/2017, 11:30 a.m.
The little girl at the center of an overnight search at a Hempstead park has been found safe, the Waller …

WALLER COUNTY, Texas -- The little girl at the center of an overnight search at a Hempstead park has been found safe, the Waller County Sheriff's Office confirms.

The sheriff's office says 5-year-old Precious Valdez appears to be fine, but she was taken to the hospital as a precaution.

Valdez was found about 11 hours after she apparently wandered from family members at Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park, where they were staying at a cabin. The girl went missing around 10 p.m. Sunday, and an Amber Alert was issued several hours later Monday morning.

They searched by air, ATV, K-9 and boat. Various law enforcement agencies along with volunteers all acting as one unit looking for Precious.

“I'm a grandma of 15 and I couldn't even imagine going through something like this,” Patricia Alwine, volunteer, said.

“I just hope she's OK and nothing happened to her crying,” Emily Solis, a cousin, said.

And then, at about 8:30 a.m., members of the media were talking to her cousin when a call came in

“Did they find her? Yes but I don't know they say she's alive but I don't know if she's OK,” the cousin said.

She was OK, wrapped in a blanket and being carried by a deputy. Air 11 was over the scene when Precious was found about half a mile away from where she disappeared.

“Found her laying up next against and air-conditioning system with the heater was going so she was nice and toasty warm and she was asleep,” Major Joel Hester, with the Waller County Sheriff’s Office, said.

"Thank you ALL for your help!!" the sheriff's office posted on its Facebook page after she was found.

Taken to the hospital just as a precaution, but the best possible outcome for everyone involved.

“I was happy. Because I was worried about her. Because I have a little girl also, and I was worried but I was hoping and praying that everything would be all right and it was,” Hester said.

Authorities say they issue an Amber Alert as a precaution. They wanted to make sure all of their bases were covered.

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