A 10-year-old girl survives in the mountains for more than 24 hours, alone

UPDATE DAY

Washington state lifeguards honor the ingenuity of a 10-year-old girl who was left alone for more than 24 hours in the Cascade Mountains, USA, after getting lost during an outing with his family. 

Shunghla Mashwani was reunited with her extended family in the Cle Elum River Valley on Sunday when she was separated from the group, CTV News reported. They were then crossing a pedestrian bridge over the river for lunch near the trailhead, the Kittitas County Sheriff's Office near Seattle said in a Facebook post.

No cell service in the area, the family had been looking for Shunghla for about two hours when a passerby offered to call the police from a satellite phone in their cabin.

Deputies, volunteer ground search teams and nearby law enforcement teams swarmed the area. Drones, helicopters and dogs were also mobilized to help find the girl.

She was spotted around 3 p.m. on Monday by two search volunteers on the ground, about 2.5 km south of where she was last seen, the sheriff's office said. She only had light scratches.

“She walked through the dense forest and spent the cold night between some trees. She said she knew it was the right thing to do to follow the river. She proved to be an extraordinarily resourceful and resilient 10-year-old,” the sheriff's office said.

Rescuers put Shunghla into an inflatable lifeboat and carried her across the river to that she finds her father.