A three-year-old girl who went missing on a camping trip when she went looking for a loo has been reunited with her parents.
Ruby Heider was camping with her family in Poinsett State Park in Wedgefield, Sumter County, in the US state of South Carolina, when she disappeared at around 7pm on September 23.
When her parents realised they couldn’t see her anywhere on the campsite, they called the police.
Ruby was dressed in a tie-dye sweatshirt and blue leggings with a dinosaur pattern when she disappeared, reported local media.
Despite being missing for a full 16 hours, Ruby was found at around 11am the next day in the woodlands about a mile from the campsite.
A spokesperson from the Sumter County Sheriff's Office said that Ruby was frightened, cold and dehydrated, but was reportedly well.
Sheriff Anthony Dennis said Ruby had wandered off while looking for the bathroom.
Dennis said: "We brought in our imaging systems, our aviation unit, our drones. We got the State Law Enforcement Division assistance with our aviation as well."
The search was carried out as a collective effort from the FBI, the Air Force, the Sumter County Sheriff's Office, the Sumter Police Department, S.C. Department of Resources, and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
In addition, around 150 campers spent the entire night volunteering to help find Ruby.
One of them, Tracey Hagen, said: "Every camper in this campground came out.
"We came out with flashlights, we started calling her name. We checked in with every camper at the site knocking on doors, asking if they had seen her."
Another camper, Rhonda Mason, said she began looking for Ruby after her frantic mother came by their RV calling out her name.
Sumter County Sheriff's Office posted on Facebook : “Sheriff Dennis is thrilled to announce that the search of the missing three-year-old at Poinsett State Park ended in the safe return of Ruby to her parents.
“She was located at approximately 11am today in the wood line less than a mile from the campsite.
Dennis went on to thank the multiple volunteer citizens from the community, saying there was such a great turnout that many of the search team did not get an opportunity to help.
"Sheriff Dennis thanks the many citizens who helped in many ways but also for the prayers for Ruby's safe return.
"He is thankful to acknowledge that those prayers were answered this morning."
