Praise God! Amanda is home safely!!! Our Father watched out for our baby!
Three years ago, Amanda sleepwalked out of our house in the middle of the night. Her doctor told us she would outgrow it around puberty..maybe. She had some sleepwalking events for a while, but then they stopped. Nothing for over a year now. So, we thought she was OK.
This morning, Clint and I ran out for a quick errand. Brandon said he noticed Amanda seemed spacey. I called the house to make sure everything was OK and asked to talk to Amanda. She and I had a conversation about the pear butter we were making. She remembers nothing of that conversation. I had noticed I had to ask her the same thing over and over. We arrived home about 10 minutes after that phone call. I needed to talk to her as soon as I got home, so I noticed she was missing. We searched high and low for her. I had that "instinct" kick in and I KNEW she was not on our place. Because of her previous sleepwalking episodes, we called 911.
The next eight hours were hell on earth. I can not describe it for you. I do not wish this on any parent. It was horrible.
The next thing she remembers is waking up to find herself lying down in the woods. She says she has no idea where she was, but it took her a long time to find her way back to our house. She was filthy. She had so many sticks in her hair that it took us 10-15 minutes to pull them all out. She is covered in scratches and bug bites. She was checked out by rescue and they said everything is normal for what she's been through.
Many thanks to....
All of the officials who helped us look for Amanda.
Tammy M. who gave us a key piece of information that got the helicopter that woke Amanda up sent our way.
Teresa S. for coming to our house and taking care of the younger children. She kept us together and supported us with hands on care, prayer, and sent her two sons to help us look for Amanda.
Richard and Linda who stood with us in prayer during the long day.
All of our wonderful, faithful, loving friends who supported us with love, prayers, kindness during this horrible, horrible day with such a wonderful, wonderful!! ending.
All of the people we've never met who prayed for Amanda's safe return and for God to sustain Clint and I. We FELT those prayers at work!
http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_news/local_wavy_glocester_missing_teen_20091209
We will be taking Amanda to see another doctor about this asap. At this point, I am wondering if the sleepwalking is a symptom of maybe small seizures? I just feel something else may be going on.
