When a mother in Dorchester, New Hampshire realized her 2-year-old daughter and the family dogs had slipped through a hole in the fence, she made a frantic call to 911. Temperatures were dropping fast, from 40°F on the way down to 20, and the race to find the little girl began.
By 3:15 p.m. on October 10, more than 90 people were combing the dense woods. “Everybody dropped what they were doing and came over extremely quickly knowing the temperature was dropping,” said Sgt. Christopher McKee of New Hampshire Fish and Game. “They are all volunteers, doing this all on their own time … the sheer outpouring of support was incredible.”
Among those volunteers was Jeremy Corson, who drove nearly 40 miles from Concord with his 7-year-old German shepherd, Freyja, named after the Norse goddess of love and beauty. Corson and Freyja are a seasoned search-and-rescue team, now in their 13th year of volunteering together. “The dog and the handler are very much a team,” Corson said. “We do the human part of it, figuring out how the wind moves and how to move through the area, and the dog provides the nose … she brought us right into it.”
The woods were so thick Corson said you could barely see a few feet ahead. As daylight faded, the family’s two dogs made it home without the child, signaling that she was still out there alone. But that also meant the searchers were likely close.
Then around 8 p.m., Freyja’s nose led the way. As Corson called the toddler’s name, he suddenly heard a tiny voice call back. The girl was safe, and smiling, thinking Corson was her dad.
Back at home, the mother “broke down,” overwhelmed with relief as rescuers celebrated the happy ending. The little girl was taken to the hospital as a precaution but was reportedly ready for “night-night.”
Corson said he couldn’t be prouder of his partner, rewarding Freyja with a brand new ball. “She brought us right into it.”
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