Two young sister who disappeared in woodland near their Californian home have been found safe and well after using their survival skills to keep alive.
Eight-year-old Leia Carrico and her sister Caroline, five, were last seen outside their home in Benbow, north California, on Friday at 2.30pm local time.
Their disappearance prompted a huge search and rescue operation with police, the US National Guard, the Coast Guard and local firefighters getting involved to help find the pair.
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Miraculously, the two girls were found just over a mile away from where they were last seen by Delbert Chumley and Abram Hill from Piercy Volunteer Fire Service almost two days later.
Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal said the little girls were 'safe and sound' and that the survival skills they had learnt at their local youth club had helped keep them safe.
He told local media: "This is an absolute miracle.
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"This is rugged territory, this is an extreme environment. How they were out there for 44 hours is pretty amazing."
According to the girls' mother they had asked to go for a walk before they disappeared, and she had told them 'no' but later on realised they were missing.
Officers were able to track the girls following a trail of wrappers from granola bars - leading them to believe the girls had 'stocked up' before they went - as well as their boot marks.
Humboldt County Sheriff's Lieutenant Mike Fridley told SF Gate: "We have found some clues during the day that have made us change our directions.
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"We found some granola bar wrappers and we were able to confirm with the mom that yes, these are granola bars that [she's] bought in the last few days.
"So, the wrappers showed us a direction from where they started to where the wrappers ended at."
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Topics: US News
