Glen Franz said his team of volunteers were set to head back to their base on Sunday after spending the day searching for a six-year-old girl who had been missing for three nights in north-central British Columbia.

Franz, a team leader with Houston Search and Rescue, said the crew had been performing a closed-grid search, standing three to five metres apart as they combed an assigned area. They had been out for more than five hours and were set to return and regroup as nightfall approached.

There was a small area that they had missed on their search. They initially thought they’d return another day, but decided to give it a look before heading back.

It was there they heard a noise that sounded like a child’s voice.

“She heard us, and then we started calling back to her, and she was calling back to us, and we just went towards the voice,” he said.

Searchers spotted the young girl in the bottom of a drainage area gully. She began walking toward them. She wasn’t wearing shoes and only had socks on her feet, he said.

“The one volunteer grabbed her, hugged her,” Franz said “We gave her first aid by giving her some water and putting a warm shirt on her, changing her socks … It was a joy. Everybody was just so happy.”

She was then reunited with her parents. The moment mother Gail Skin, 29, saw her daughter she was overwhelmed with emotions.

“I just couldn’t contain myself ’cause I was just so so happy to have her back in my arms,” Skin said.

The child was cold, hungry and dehydrated but otherwise unharmed.

Relief and joy following large search

Police say the girl was found in a forested area that had already been searched between her home and the First Nation band office in the community of Southbank, about 25 kilometres south of Burns Lake and 200 kilometres west of Prince George.

They say searchers believe the girl was likely moving around while she was missing, so she may not have been in the area when it was first searched.

Relief and joy were felt across the region after hundreds of people spent days searching for the girl, who police said was non-verbal, but who parents said would make noises to communicate.

Volunteers cheer as a missing six-year-old is reunited with her family. (Facebook/Janice Nooksi)

More than 600 volunteers from around the province had joined the search, which also included helicopters and drones from police and rescue services, culminating in what police say was one of the largest search operations ever recorded in northern B.C.

Skin says they are deeply grateful for the support from the community.

“We’re in awe, and we’re so amazed and shocked, like just so many emotions, that so many people came together and wanted our baby home just as much as we did because a lot of them are parents, grandparents, and aunts and uncles that just love babies,” she said. “Their intentions were good and pure. They weren’t stopping until they brought our [child] home.”

Skin says the family will take steps to ensure something similar doesn’t happen to their daughter again.

‘She’s a very strong girl’ 

Franz says the young girl faced challenging circumstances as temperatures dropped to near freezing.

“There were cold nights.There were rainy nights,” he said. “It was harsh conditions that she was in for the last few days. It’s just amazing the condition that we found her.”

“She’s a very strong girl.”

He says he is glad they decided to listen to their instincts and continue their search.

“The fact that we decided to go on a little bit longer and finish off an area, and there she was … It’s incredible.”

The Skin Tyee Band hosted a banquet Monday afternoon to celebrate the girl’s safe return.