New York State Trooper Brian Hotchkiss expected the worst.
A trooper for six years and longer in law enforcement, he knew missing child cases could end badly.
“I’ve seen these things go really bad,” said Hotchkiss, who was about to follow up on an assignment last Saturday when the report of a missing child came in at the troopers’ barracks in Farmington.
With the missing child taking precedence, Hotchkiss and another trooper headed to South Bristol, where the child was reported missing from her home on County Road 33.
The time was 5:18 p.m. when the 911 center received a call that the toddler had wandered from her home, said Ontario County Sheriff Kevin Henderson, whose agency took the lead in the search that drew law enforcement from across the region.
With little daylight left and the temperature dropping, acting quickly was especially crucial.
“We immediately got down to South Bristol as fast as we possibly could,” said Hotchkiss, who joined a growing search team that included troopers, deputies and the Sheriff’s K-9 unit.
“It was a rather nice day, but the temperature was dropping and that is what I was most nervous about,” said Hotchkiss in a press event Wednesday recounting the hour-long search for the 2-year-old girl in the wooded Bristol Hills.
Where would a toddler wander off to? They first searched in and around the house, as children sometimes go and hide. With no luck, they knocked on neighbors’ doors. The response was overwhelming, with people wanting to help.
“They have such a great community down there,” said Hotchkiss, who said neighbors contacted others to join in finding the child.
With the sun beginning to set and still no sign of the child, Hotchkiss told how he and two other troopers began to climb the mountain — the one Hotchkiss described as “kitty-corner to Bristol Mountain” — each taking different paths.
Hotchkiss said it seemed unlikely that a young child would walk up this steep hill.
“I consider myself an in-shape guy and I was winded climbing up this thing,” he said. “But I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if I didn’t check so I kept climbing and climbing. After about 45 minutes into my climb I looked up to the summit of the mountain and all I could see was brown and gray trees, dirt.
“And within the tree line of the summit in the middle of the stream I saw a pink dot.”
Noting that “the dispatcher had told us the child was wearing a white skirt with a pink top,” he said he thought this could be it — but it could also be a piece of garbage or a piece of trash. He knew he had to investigate after about 15 minutes of climbing up this incline through the trees. He located the stream and followed it. Then he saw the child.
“She was laying on her stomach on a rock,” Hotchkiss said. “I ran over to her as quick as possible and was calling her name. I saw her arm move and I knew she was alive. My heart just dropped, I was so excited. I ran up and she hugged me immediately and she wouldn’t let go.”
Hotchkiss got on his radio and alerted other searchers that he had found the child at the top of the mountain. Trooper Jason Stirk, who was now with Hotchkiss, wrapped the child in his uniform and Hotchkiss carried her down the mountain. She was shivering when she was found, and began crying when she saw Hotchkiss. It took about half an hour but they got down the mountain as fast as they could.
It was an emotional and joyful reunion with the child and her family. Other than cold and shaken, the child was unhurt. She was soaking wet and had wandered about half a mile up the hill from her home.
Trooper Brian Hotchkiss tells about rescuing the child from a mountain in South Bristol during a press event Wednesday at Troop E in Farmington.
“We got her down to the base as quick as possible and as safely as possible where she was treated by Canandaigua ambulance and transported for a basic check-over due to the elements,” Hotchkiss said.
“I am blessed with how it turned out,” he added. “I knew there was only another 20 or 30 minutes of sunlight and it could have been a totally different game and turned into a completely different search.”
“She is safe and healthy and we are very happy that this was a positive outcome,” said Henderson.
“It’s something I will never forget,” said Hotchkiss.