CLEARLAKE, Calif. – An 11-year-old Clearlake girl who had been missing for several hours was found late Wednesday thanks to a Clearlake Police K9 who led officers to her location.
The girl, CeNedra Vance, was reported missing to police by her mother, Felicia Vance, according to a report from Clearlake Police Sgt. Martin Snyder.
At about 8:44 p.m. Wednesday Felicia Vance went to the lobby of the Clearlake Police Department and reported that her daughter had walked away from a friend’s residence in the 15000 block of 32nd Avenue in Clearlake. The girl was last seen at about 4:15 p.m., Snyder said.
Snyder said Vance reported family and friends had been looking for the juvenile for several hours and were unable to locate her.
Vance reported her daughter was possibly seen in the area of Oleander Street. However, the last sighting of the juvenile was more than an hour and a half old at that point, Snyder said.
At that time there had been no confirmed sightings and the distance between 32nd Avenue and Oleander Street was several miles on opposite sides of the city, he said.
Snyder said Officer Trevor Franklin contacted several friends of the juvenile's in the area in an attempt to get a possible destination or location of the juvenile.
Additionally, Lake County Search and Rescue, Lake County Fire Protection District and the Lake County Sheriff's Office were contacted and asked to assist with searching for the girl, Snyder said.
Pomo School Principal Heather Koehler also was contacted for assistance. Snyder said Koehler sent out an automated message to all the parents of the Konocti Unified School District. The message advised parents to be on the lookout for the missing juvenile, and included clothing descriptions and contact information.
As the search and rescue teams were being deployed, the mother received a tip from a resident on Second Street that the juvenile was last seen walking into a wooded area east of Second Street, Snyder said.
Officer Franklin, along with Officer Mike Ray and his K9 partner, Harley, began an article search from the last known location of the juvenile, Snyder said.
Snyder said Harley led officers to the girl's location. Just after 10:40 p.m. officers advised that they had located her in an abandoned boat hull which had been discarded in the brush approximately 150 yards from the roadway.
Officers requested medical aid for the juvenile as she was unresponsive but breathing. Snyder said the officers believed the juvenile was possibly suffering from the early stages of hypothermia.
Franklin carried the girl about 150 yards out of the wooded area, where she was released to the paramedics who had just arrived on scene, Snyder said.
Paramedics with Lake County Fire Protection District rendered aid to the girl, who Snyder said was later transported to the St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake for further treatment.
Snyder said the girl was treated and later released from the hospital.
Felicia Vance posted on Lake County News' Facebook page, offering her thanks to the community for the assistance in bringing her daughter home.
“She ran away from home cause we are moving out of state after her dad was killed here,” Vance wrote, referring to her late husband, David Ferrell, who died as the result of a random shooting in Clearlake in September 2013.
The Clearlake Police Department thanked the Clearlake residents who assisted with passing information across social networks and sharing information, which helped in narrowing the search area for the the child.
Additionally, the agency recognized the fast response and assistance from the Lake County Fire Protection District, Lake County Sheriff's Office, Lake County Search and Rescue and staff with the Konocti Unified School District.
“With partnership with the community and allied agencies, we were fortunate to bring this to a positive ending with the juvenile reunited with family,” Snyder said.