When one Minnesota man went on a hunting trip this past weekend with his friends, he had hoped he would be able to track down some deer. Fortunately, he ended up finding something much more important.
Twenty-eight-year-old hunter Nathan Stoffel had heard that 12-year-old Mya Ann Arriaga had recently gone missing, so when he and his friends went on a hunting trip to his family’s land, they all knew to keep an eye out for her. However, the girl had already been missing for 30 hours, and since none of the rescue crews had been able to find her, Stoffel didn’t think they’d have any luck.
The volunteer firefighter had gone off to try and find deer when he noticed something in the water clinging to a tree. “I knew right away that shouldn’t be there. That’s something out of the ordinary… As I got closer, I knew it was her. I panicked a bit,” said Stoffel, who thought the girl was dead. “Then I ran to her because I saw her arm moving.”
Stoffel attempted to get Mya’s attention and throw a rope to her to rescue her, but the little girl has autism and doesn’t speak, so he instead called 911 and waited with her until rescuers arrived. “She never really made eye contact with me and I was like, ‘Help is here. It’s on the way!’ She was shivering and that’s when she turned her head and looked at me and it sent chills down my spine,” Stoffel said about the 12-year-old who was wearing pajamas and had no shoes on. “You could just see the fear. It was a look I will never forget.”
Mya is now in the hospital recovering but is in fair condition, and her family is so thankful that their daughter was found. “This was the hunt of a lifetime. We will never forget it,” Stoffel said. “It really is amazing,” St. Peter Police Chief Matt Peters said. “Especially considering how long she was out in the elements.”
Watch the entire video below to see how this hunter reacted once he realized what he had found while out on a hunting trip.
Can you believe this hunter’s incredible luck? Let us know what you think in the comments below, and please SHARE this with friends on Facebook.
[Featured image: Fox9]
Hunter Finds Missing Girl Clinging To A Tree In A River is an article from: LifeDaily