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‘Amazing’: 6-year-old girl survives 73 hours alone in B.C.’s wilderness

Click to play video: 'Search for missing girl near Burns Lake ends happily'
Search for missing girl near Burns Lake ends happily
A six-year-old girl was found safe Sunday night, three days after she went missing from her family home in a remote community south of Burns Lake. Aaron McArthur reports – Sep 23, 2024

Parents Gail Skin and James Schweder were finally able to get some sleep on Sunday night after their daughter was found safe.

Oaklynn Schweder, six, went missing from the Burns Lake area in North Central B.C. around 6 p.m. on Thursday.

She was found on Sunday evening in a previously searched forested area between her residence and Skin Tyee band office.

Skin said when they received the phone call that Oaklynn was found, she jumped into the air screaming, “They found her! They f***ing found her!”

Skin and Schweder said when they saw the searchers carrying their daughter out of the woods, they just started running toward her.

“We didn’t wait for them to bring our baby to us,” Skin said.

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She added that when the searchers found Oaklynn, she was saying the word “home” over and over.

Oaklynn is non-verbal but she can mimic words and investigators think she wandered off and then couldn’t find her way back.

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“I was so relieved,” Skin said.

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“That I was getting her back in my arms… having her back. And it was just so amazing. Like I can’t describe it because like just… I’m happy.”

Skin said they are still at the hospital but Oaklynn is doing well, considering. She is eating and drinking.

“She’s starting to be more herself that we’re recognizing,” Skin said. “Her noises and sounds.”

Schweder said there are no major injuries on his daughter’s body.

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“She was a little bit overheating last night but that’s just due to finally being back and her body trying to reregulate everything to where she is instead of trying to keep her in survival mode, but no broken anything and no ill effects that any major concern,” he said.

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The search for the girl was one of the largest in northern B.C.’s history, with hundreds of searchers and volunteers coming out each day.

Skin said between 1,200 and 1,500 people were helping search for Oaklynn on the weekend and her family is so grateful to everyone.

“I would say that that’s probably the busiest Ahousat has ever been in one spot at any point in time,” Schweder added.

Skin and Schweder have four children and said when Oaklynn went missing, it was their worst nightmare.

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“I’m just so grateful and happy that she is back,” Skin said.

It’s unlikely Oaklynn will ever be able to tell them what happened, her parents said, but she might be able to share something as she learns new words and meanings.

“But right now we’re just glad she’s back in there and in our arms and back home and we feel complete with all our babies,” Skin added.

Oaklynn will also receive a traditional Indigenous name as she went on a journey and was protected.

A traditional, ancestral and spiritual name represents a person’s identity and relationship with the land, ancestors and their families.

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