First responders used Snapchat, a multimedia messaging application, to narrow down the location of a missing Marthasville girl March 26.The Marthasville Fire Department received a call for a missing 12-year-old girl around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 26. Parents of the girl had not been able to locate their daughter for about two hours when they realized they needed to contact authorities.Sean Johnson, assistant fire chief for the Marthasville Volunteer Fire Department, credits the overwhelming response he received from surrounding departments.“Without teamwork and working together, there might not have been a positive outcome so quickly,” said Johnson. “We’re glad she’s OK and back with family.”In addition to Marthasville volunteers and the Marthasville Ambulance District, other agencies responding included the Washington Fire Department, Eureka Search and Rescue, Warrenton Fire Department, Warren County Sheriff’s Department and Emergency Management, Wright City Fire Department, Warren County CERT team members, ARES of Franklin County, ARCH Helicopter, Missouri State Highway Patrol, New Melle Fire Department and the Mid-Missouri Search Dog Team.During a debriefing, responders talked about strategies they used to find the missing girl. Nearly 60 men and women took part in the search using drones and utility vehicles (UTV). Several of them searched on foot over difficult terrain. Drones were called off when ARCH arrived on the scene. The girl was found around 1 p.m.Communications were the biggest challenge in an area where signals are often unreliable.Thanks to the tech savvy of some of the first responders, it was discovered that the juvenile did not have an iPhone, which would help locate her, but she did use Snapchat. One of her friends was contacted at the Washington Middle School, who sent her a message. Warren County Dispatch was able to help ping her phone, narrowing down her approximate location.The girl was not injured or in danger from the environment as temperatures were in the 50s on Tuesday.Johnson credits the great response from mutual aid partners for helping in the successful search.

A command base was quickly set up in the garage of a Marthasville firefighter when a local 12-year-old girl went missing Tuesday, March 26. Mutual aid from several departments came to help the Marthasville Volunteer Fire Department search for the juvenile. She had been missing at least two hours before dispatch was called. She was located, in part, by locating her signal from a Snapchat message sent to the juvenile by a friend at the Washington middle school. Pictured, from left, are Assistant Fire Chief Sean Johnson and Marthasville Ambulance Director Ann Cleavelin. 

 

Record photo/Cindy Gladden

ARCH helicopter joined the search for a missing juvenile Tuesday, March 26, in Marthasville. Departments also used drones and utility vehicles to search for the girl. She was found approximately four hours after her parents noticed her disappearance. 

Record photo/Cindy Gladden