Tulsa Police Air Unit vital in locating and saving a missing child

On December 17th, at about 6:30 p.m., the Wagoner County Sheriff’s Office requested Tulsa Police Air Support in reference to a missing 11 year old autistic female. She had gone missing around 30 minutes before, and was seen on several trail cameras walking Southbound through the trees in the area of 3300 S. 209th East Avenue. The Tulsa Police Air Unit arrived on scene and began to search the large wooded area between 31st and 41st Street south and between the Creek Turnpike and 209th East Ave. A unit on scene stated he thought he had heard a female scream just to the North of 41st St and about ½ mile west of the Creek Turnpike. Police searched the area just to the North of 41st. During the search officers on the ground asked the Air Unit to search specific areas where they were hearing noises. After checking out those areas with negative results, the Air Unit continued searching to the south in case she had continued that direction. After searching for more than 1.5 hours, the Air Unit was low on fuel and was forced to abandon the search to refuel. Once it had refueled and made it back to the scene approximately four hours had passed in sub 30 degree weather. The helicopter began to search the large wooded area again. After one hour of searching, the Air Unit located a heat source deep within the woods. Officers verified the heat source as being an individual wearing a jacket matching the description of the missing subject. They notified the ground unit of our find and then began to guide officers to her location. Since there were no K-9 or ground units in that area of the woods, the Thommen light was used to assist officers in finding the subject. After guiding the grounds officer for over 12 minutes to her location, officers were able to make it through the thick brush and locate the subject. Once officers made contact they assessed her condition and attempted to give her additional clothing to warm her up. She was unable to walk under her own power out of the trees and was carried out by fire and police. The likely hood of the little girl being located overnight without the assistance of the Air Unit would have been highly unlikely.