7-year-old girl found safe in North Cascades: 'We're all very happy'

Searchers are combing a rugged area in the North Cascades for a missing 7-year-old girl, sheriff's officials said. Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo says Gwynn Dilstrom was reported missing at 7:30 p.m. Saturday from North Cascades National Park near the town of Newhalem. less Searchers are combing a rugged area in the North Cascades for a missing 7-year-old girl, sheriff's officials said. Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo says Gwynn Dilstrom was reported missing at 7:30 p.m. ... more Photo: KOMO News Photo: KOMO News Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close 7-year-old girl found safe in North Cascades: 'We're all very happy' 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A missing 7-year-old girl was found safe Sunday evening nearly 24 hours after she went missing in the North Cascades, a spokeswoman for the North Cascades National Park Service Complex said.

Searchers found Gwynn Dilstom, 7, hunkered down in a steep, woody area about a half-mile from where she was last seen Saturday night, said Chief of Visitor Services Denise Shultz. The girl did not appear to be hurt, she added.

"She must have found a spot to be," Shultz told reporters. "Because if she was only a half-mile from the last point that she was seen, so it wasn't like she continued to wander and wander and wander. And so we think she probably sat down somewhere and she ended up calling out to the rescuers. And they were able to find her."

More than 120 volunteers and 5 canine crews helped with the search. At times, a helicopter and drones were used to try to get a view of the search area from above.

Search volunteer Jim Meiers came face-to-face with Dilstrom's dad hours after the search efforts began.

As a father himself, Meiers said his heart broke after hearing the girl went missing Saturday while playing outside her family's camp site.

"It makes me very emotional. Very emotional," Meiers told KOMO News.

What's unclear is how the girl survived a cold night out in the woods alone. More details are expected to be released on Monday.

"We are all very thankful that she was able to come home safely," Shultz said. "We're all very happy. All the searchers are happy. This is the outcome that we all hope for when we do this. This is the payoff."

It's the ending Shultz and so many others were hoping for.

A team effort made it possible for Dilstrom to be reunited with her family.

"It was obviously incredibly stressful for them," Shultz said. "They were very excited. It was really hard for them to hold back and not just wanna run out and see if they could find her. So yeah, they did really well."