Afraid of dark, lost child spent night watching fireflies
BY MARY PERHAM THE LEADER

PHOTO BY ERIC WENSEL/THE LEADER Emily Williams hugs her daughter, Samantha, as she speaks with Bath police Sgt. Andy Dubois.

BATH - Lost in the woods at night and afraid of the dark, 10-year-old Samantha Williams calmed herself by watching lightning bugs, her mother told reporters Tuesday afternoon.

Some four days after the youngster spent 16 hours lost in the woods at Mossy Bank Park, she clung to her mother's hand and answered questions from the media about her rescue.

"She is afraid of the dark," her mother said. "She said the lightning bugs kept her company."

Samantha, 10, was the subject of an intensive search launched Thursday evening, when she was first reported missing by her mother. The anxious search began around 6:35 p.m. and involved roughly 150 members of paid and volunteer emergency responders from across the region throughout the night and next morning.

The child was spotted around 10 a.m. Friday by a motorist on County Route 11 headed away from Bath, according to Bath Police Chief David Rouse.

Emily Williams said the trip to Mossy Bank Park was the first for her family of three children . Williams' son, Sidney, 7, had been to the park on a school field trip a few weeks before and the two children went off to explore a trail, she said.

"I said, 'Be back in five minutes,'" Williams said. "Well, he ran back. She wasn't with him."

Accounts relying on the frightened child's recollection are still sketchy, but officials believe she circled around the playground and headed east.

She then wandered near the Conhocton River and returned to the wooded area where the ground was drier.

Williams said her daughter slept for part of the night before trying to find her way home.

Rescuers' concerns for the lost girl were heightened by rugged terrain that included slippery, steep hills, high cliffs and dense woodland.

A large black bear was also spotted in the park, but Department of Environmental Conservation officials said responders knew where the animal was at all times during the search.

Windy conditions at night prevented search dogs from following the child's scent, and the temperature dropped to 55 degrees, officials said.

Rescue efforts were hampered as night fell, and volunteers were issued flashlights

and night vision goggles.

Samantha, dressed in a bright yellow, sparkle-decorated shirt, and jeans, leaned very close to her mother during the press conference, swinging her small feet. In a shy, piping voice, she hesitantly answered a few questions but more often hung h er head and stared at her lap, before shrugging in response.

She told reporters she did not want to go to the park again, and would stay near her mother to avoid becoming lost again.

The only comment she made emphatically was after her mother said Samantha saw birds and squirrels during her trek that covered several miles.

"And a cat !" Samantha said. Rouse said the man who eventually found Samantha walking east on County Route 39 toward Risingville had a premonition he would find the little girl. The man asked to remain anonymous, saying he had a child that age, according to the police chief.

Samantha suffered bruises, scratches and bug bites as she worked to find her way home. After long, exhausting, hungry hours her first meal was Chicken McNuggets and French fries, her mother said.

Her voice breaking with emotion, Williams said she was relieved so many people cared to help and had no way to express her gratitude.

"I just appreciate them so much," she said, struggling with tears.

Samantha simply swung her feet, clutched her mother's arm with both small hands and gazed up at her mother's face.