4-27-2006

Calls help find girl, 15

By Adam Dolge
adolge@seacoastonline.com

BRENTWOOD - A missing 15-year-old girl was found after midnight Monday with the help of residents who received [911 in reverse] phone calls.

The girl went into the woods about 4:30 p.m. on Sunday near Pine Road, said Police Chief Wayne Robinson. About 8 p.m., when she was reported missing by her parents, a crew including Brentwood police and firefighters, state police, New Hampshire Fish and Game and an Exeter Police Department officer was deployed to start the search.

While small teams searched through woods and fields, residents in the area of Pine Road and Brentwood Road received recorded calls asking them to be on the lookout for the missing girl. About 8 p.m. police called the missing child advocacy group, [A Child Is Missing] to help spread the word.

The [911 in reverse] program called and notified residents that Brentwood police were looking for the girl, provided a description and the location where she was last seen.

Robinson said two residents were crucial in finding the missing girl.

"It was the first time we’ve used this," he said, referring to [911 in reverse]. "Two people came forward saying they saw her going across a field."

She was found by a search group, which included N.H. Fish and Game, an Exeter police officer and a Brentwood firefighter about 12:30 a.m. Monday.

The girl was taken to Exeter Hospital because she was wet, cold and had been in the woods for so long. Her parents picked her up at the hospital, Robinson said.

"We gave them the info they needed and within 30 minutes it was out there," Robinson said of the responsiveness of [911 in reverse]. "It was excellent the way it worked out."

Robinson said the girl walks in the woods often, but she probably got out too far, the sunlight faded, and she started losing her way. At first police were not sure if she was in the woods, or had called a friend. But he said the information from two residents, who received messages from [911 in reverse], really made the difference in finding the girl.