A lost child saved: Andy Crozier returns two-year-old Daisy Smith to her jubilant
parents near Bethlehem in Clark County.
By Stephen Sellers and Russell Grunden
A lost child saved: Andy Crozier returns two-year-old Daisy Smith to her jubilant
parents near Bethlehem in Clark County.
By Stephen Sellers and Russell Grunden
Andy Crozier had finished his shift for the day and was tending to some chores on the family’s farm near Madison, Ind. when he received the call from South Region headquarters.
Conservation officers with ATVs were needed to join a search and rescue mission in nearby Clark County.
Two-year-old Daisy Smith had wandered from her family’s home near Bethlehem, along the Ohio River. The family’s Labrador retriever, Thunder, also was missing.
The pair was seen last at about 5:30 p.m.—about three hours before Crozier arrived at the scene. A large-scale search operation was underway, involving more than 100 law enforcement officers and volunteers.
Jeff Milner, a conservation officer from Orange County, brought his canine partner to attempt to track Daisy. But there were too many footprints from too many volunteers for the dog to follow Daisy’s scent.
Crozier and Mark Farmer, a Washington County conservation officer, were assigned to search upstream of Bethlehem. They searched for hours through the hills, the lowlands and along the river’s edge. They found no signs of either the little girl or the family pet.
The state police helicopter joined in around midnight, but the chopper’s heat-seeking equipment, also failed to produce results.
The search was called off for the night and folks headed home to rest up for the next day’s search. Except for a few conservation officers.
Crozier and ICO Frank Routh sat the rest of the night on a hilltop hoping to hear a sound from either Daisy or Thunder.
Shortly after first light, Lt. Felix Hensley assigned Crozier to expand his search upstream from Bethlehem, looking for areas where a small child could walk. After about a mile, Crozier noticed a dog’s footprints in the wet sand at the edge of the river. A short time later he saw the bare footprints of a small child.
Daisy’s footprints disappeared but reappeared further upstream. He walked for another quarter of a mile before finally coming upon a barking dog displaying a mouthful of teeth.
He called for Daisy, but received no response.
“Finally, a little face rose up from behind a small piece of driftwood and looked at me,” Crozier wrote later. “The feeling of relief and joy came over me. This was going to be one of the good endings we all hope for.”
After making friends with the very protective Thunder, Crozier returned Daisy and the dog to her parents. More than 13 hours had passed since the search began.
