When New York State Trooper Brian Hotchkiss received a report of a missing child from South Bristol, he braced himself for the worst. Hotchkiss had been a trooper for six years or more and was well aware that missing-child cases could be disastrous. On March 27, the officer was about to follow up on an assignment when the report arrived at their Farmington barracks.
The case became a priority, so Hotchkiss and another trooper rushed to South Bristol, where the 2-year-old girl had gone missing from her home on County Road 33. The 911 center received the call about the toddler who had wandered away from her home at 5:18 p.m. Because the temperature was dropping and there was little daylight left, the first responders knew they needed to act quickly.
The group first looked inside and around the house, thinking that children might hide there. They couldn’t find her there, so they went door to door, asking neighbors if they had seen the little girl. Hotchkiss stated that they received an overwhelming response, with many people wanting to assist. The neighbors invited their neighbors to help them find the child.
Even though the sun was setting, they still hadn’t found the child. Despite the fact that it appeared unlikely that a young child could walk up a steep hill, Hotchkiss and two other troopers decided to go up the mountain. They each took their own path. “I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep unless I checked. “After about 45 minutes of climbing, I looked up to the summit of the mountain and all I could see were trees and dirt,” he said. There, he noticed something out of place: a “pink dot.”
The dispatcher had said the girl was wearing a white skirt and a pink top, so he assumed this was it. Hotchkiss knew he had to look into it, and when he arrived at the stream, he saw the child. “She was on her stomach on a rock,” Hotchkiss remembered. “I dashed over to her as quickly as I could and called her name. When I saw her arm move, I knew she was still alive. I was so excited that my heart just dropped. I ran up to her and she immediately hugged me and wouldn’t let go.”
Hotchkiss took out his radio and informed the other searchers that he had located her at the summit of the mountain. Trooper Jason Stirk wrapped the freezing child in his uniform and carried her down the hill with Hotchkiss. The little girl was shivering when she was discovered and began crying when she saw the NY state trooper. Hotchkiss ran down the mountain as fast as he could, and they were back on the ground in 30 minutes.
“We got her down to the base as quickly and safely as we could, where she was treated by a Canandaigua ambulance and transported for a basic check-up due to the elements,” Hotchkiss explained. The trooper is pleased with the outcome and says this is an event in his career he will never forget. “I am blessed with the outcome,” he said. “I knew there was only another 20 or 30 minutes of daylight left, and it could have been a completely different game and search.”
“She is safe and healthy, and we are very pleased with the outcome,” said Ontario County Sheriff Kevin Henderson․ More on this story can be found in the video below.