- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
UPDATE: Video clip of missing girl aids in search
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Officials searching for a missing 9-year-old San Francisco girl are refocusing their efforts on Tuesday thanks to a new piece of evidence – a brief video clip of the girl running down the street near her home.
Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen said about 70 to 100 volunteers from local and regional agencies – along with community members – were continuing their search on Tuesday for Mikaela Renee Lynch, who was last seen at her family’s vacation home on Harbor Drive early Sunday afternoon.
Clausen said that early Tuesday police got an important new clue as to where the girl may have gone in the form of a surveillance video clip from a neighboring vacation home. That clip has not been released by police.
Michaela’s parents had reported her missing just before 1:30 p.m. Sunday; Clausen said the video showed the child running down Harbor Drive in a northerly direction at approximately 1:31 p.m.
It was just a small video clip, but Clausen said it was an important clue. “Now we have a last known direction,” he said.
The clip is an “absolutely positive” development, he added, explaining that search efforts were being refocused in the direction she was last seen traveling.
Clausen said the video showed the girl unclothed. Her family said she had been clothed when she was last seen playing in the yard, but found her clothing after she disappeared.
The child had a habit of taking her clothes off, Clausen reported. “That is not unusual for that to happen.”
A diaper found nearby also is believed to have been one she was wearing at the time she was last seen at her home, Clausen said.
Clausen said the girl’s disappearance continues to be handled as a case of her wandering away. He said there is no evidence to indicate she was abducted.
In an effort to find Mikaela, community members have circulated hundreds of fliers with information on the brown-haired, blue-eyed little girl, who is 4 feet tall and weighs 70 pounds.
One of those community members taking part is Elizabeth Hoskins, who on Tuesday was passing out fliers and putting them on cars, and helping comb the search area.
Hoskins said she wanted to get active in the search because of her concern for Mikaela.
She said she met one of the girl’s teachers from San Francisco on Monday evening, as the woman was walking door to door in the city’s Avenues areas, asking people to search their outbuildings for the child.
A group of fellow parents and teachers from Mikaela’s school in Ocean Beach had reportedly caravaned to Lake County to help try to find her.
The incident command post remains located at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 14970 Lakeview Way in Clearlake.
Early Tuesday morning Cal Fire inmate crews and engines were staging at the command post, where Clausen said the search was scaled down for a four-hour period, from 3:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m.
The search was ramped back up at 7:30 a.m., Clausen said. A Cal Fire chopper joined the effort on Tuesday morning.
Clearlake Police and Lake County Fire have been aided by agencies from around the region, including sheriff’s and search and rescue personnel from Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Santa Clara and Sonoma counties.
In addition to Cal Fire’s helicopter, REACH and the California Highway Patrol also have sent helicopters to help patrol the area of nearby Cache Creek, and search K9s have been employed.
Clausen said officials have searched a five-square-mile area, adding that the many citizen volunteers who have taken part have expanded the search area another five square miles through their efforts.
Nearby Cache Creek has been a focal point of the effort to find the girl. On Sunday, Yolo County officials acted on a request from the incident command to reduce flows through the Cache Creek Dam to aid in the search.
On Tuesday another dive team is expected to arrive from a regional agency, and Clausen said Control Costa County is sending an unmanned submarine with sonar and video to help search the water.
Community members are still invited to take part in the search. They can report to the command center to get directions on where to look.
Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to contact the Clearlake Police Department at 707-994-8251 or call 911.
Additional updates will be posted as they become available.
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