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PrintA three-hour search for an 8-year-old girl ended Tuesday night after she was found hiding behind bushes in the 4400 block of Bellview Drive by officials from the Boone County Sheriff’s Department and Boone County Fire Protection District.
The girl ran away from home at 4:15 p.m. because she was afraid of getting in trouble with her parents over an incident that occurred on the school bus ride home, Boone County Sheriff’s Maj. Tom Reddin said. Her family searched for her for almost two hours before contacting the Sheriff’s Department at about 6 p.m., Reddin said.
The girl was found at 7:35 p.m. after about 25 firefighters and eight deputies searched the area west of Scott Boulevard in southwest Columbia.
“She popped up from behind some bushes,” Reddin said. “The officers asked her, ‘Are you Mimi?’ She responded ‘Yes,’ and they said, ‘Well, you better come with us.’ ”
Boone County medics found the girl to be unharmed, Reddin said.
“You’re talking about our most precious resource,” Reddin said. “Everything comes to a grinding halt until that child is found.”
He said the case was unusual compared to most children that run away, because most are found within an hour of when they are last seen.
“She is safe and will be reunited with her family,” Reddin said.
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