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Girl, 10, rescued after surviving alone in ‘rugged’ mountains in Washington state

Shunghla Mashwani’s family said they had come to the U.S. from Afghanistan just two years ago and told searchers they like to spend time in the high backcountry “because it reminds them of home,” the Kittitas County Sheriff’s office said.

Generic photo of police lights (Pixabay)

A 10-year-old girl who came to the U.S. from Afghanistan just two years ago was rescued after surviving 24 hours alone in a “rugged and remote” mountain area in Washington state after she got lost during a family gathering, authorities said.

Shunghla Mashwani was reported missing in the Cle Elum River Valley, east of Seattle, shortly before 2 p.m. local time (5 p.m. ET) on Sunday, the Kittitas County Sheriff’s office said in a news release days later.

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Her loved ones said her extended family had been gathering at the Cathedral Pass Trailhead on Fish Lake Road and playing in the woods near a footbridge over the Cle Elum River, the sheriff’s office said.

When the family walked back across the river to a parking area to eat lunch, they realized Shunghla was missing. Around 20 adults were with the group and they immediately went back and started searching for the 10-year-old, the sheriff’s office said.


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