Young Sisters Found After Being Lost for 2 Days in Rugged Humboldt Wilderness

Photo from the family GoFundMe page

When 5-year-old Caroline Carrico and 8-year-old Leia Carrico were younger, they were taught wilderness survival tactics from their local 4-H club. This past weekend, the training paid off.

The young Carrico sisters were found on Sunday in the rugged wilderness of Humboldt County after being lost for nearly two days. They survived the terrifying weekend by eating granola bars as a massive operation to find the girls was underway. That search and rescue operation included a dozen agencies, including the National Guard, helicopters and tracking dogs.

“I’m pleased to say that we’re all witnessing a miracle today — Caroline and Leia have been found safe and sound,” said Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal. “We could not have had a better outcome than we’ve had this morning. This is an absolute miracle.”

The girls wandered away from their remote home in Benbow and into the rugged wilderness on Friday and were found 44 hours later and 1 1/2 miles away. They were finally located by a local volunteer firefighting crew that had followed their boot prints and granola bar wrappers. Once found, they were immediately reunited with their parents.

https://www.facebook.com/brianna.finney.9/videos/1751033411663988/UzpfSTUzNDg4NDQyODoxMDE1NzIyNDQxMDMwNDQyOQ/

The girls were found uninjured and in good spirits, despite a little dehydration. They were immediately given dry clothes, food and water.

For the small Humoldt town of Benbow, this harrowing story quickly became national news and created a nervous tension in the entire community. Upon the news of their rescue, officials showed a big sigh of relief in a press conference:

https://www.facebook.com/HumboldtSheriff/videos/2294083017536543/

This story is a great lesson to parents to educate your kids about the wilderness. Without the wilderness survival tactics from their local 4-H club, this situation could have been much worse.

Active NorCal

Telling the Stories of Northern California
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