A Montgomery County mom cried tears of joy Friday as she got to meet the police officer who found her 7-year-old daughter.
Sahara, who has autism, ran off from her babysitter Saturday, March 4 and left her home in Germantown, Maryland, without a coat in the bitter cold.
"No parent ever wants to get that call that their child is missing, especially a non-verbal special needs child. I was frantic," Sahara's mother Mary Wimpy said.
For more than an hour, Montgomery County police officers searched for Sahara on the ground with K9s and in the air with a helicopter.
Officer Jonathan Pruziner remembered from his training that people with autism are often attracted to water and started searching in the area of a nearby pond.
He found Sahara cold and wet near the pond.
"She was really cold and I've suffered from hypothermia in the past and I was pretty sure that's what was going on, Pruziner said.
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"She was pale. She was shaking. She was foaming at the mouth. I thought she was dying," Wimpy said.
Sahara was taken to a local hospital and then to the Childrens National Medical Center to be treated for hypothermia. She has since made a complete recovery and was all smiles Friday as her mom thanked Pruziner.
"That's why cops suit up in the morning...for calls like this," Pruziner said.
