Search for lost kids has happy ending

When Angie Wilson called Whitley County 911 after she realized her three children, ages 11, 8 and seven, had wandered off Saturday morning near Laurel Lake, she said she never expected the kind of response she got.

Wilson said no more than 30 minutes after she had made the initial call, search teams had been organized and emergency workers were preparing to hit the woods near Whipporwill Rd., just off of Bee Creek Rd., with one thing in mind; finding her children.

“I was very impressed with the way things happened,” Wilson said. “At first I thought they were just out a little ways, but when I realized they had been gone for a little while, I knew they were really lost.

“I knew it was cold and I just wanted to find them, so when I realized how quick everyone had reacted it helped” she added. “I wasn’t really worried about the lake or anything, I just knew they would be getting cold and we needed to find them.”

Nearly eight-and-a-half hours later, Wilson said her children were back at home safe and sound and she found herself thankful for what she called an early Christmas present.

“It was like an early present for them to be found safe and sound,” Wilson said. “I appreciate what everyone did and how many people responded to try and find them.

“I didn’t realize how many people had volunteered to search for them until it was all over,” she added. “I was a little busy worrying about them to think about it, to be honest.”

One thing is for sure, Wilson said she gave her children a good talking to when all was said and done, but she said she wasn’t all to hard on them.

“I just told them to be careful next time and if they think they are lost, just to be still until someone comes and finds them,” she added.