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Ohio Toddler Rescued: Girl Missing 48 Hours Not Yet Reunited With Her Mother

By Regina Avalos
Published on: 22:40 PST, Oct 5, 2015

An Ohio toddler has been rescued after spending 48 hours alone. The little girl was playing with her siblings on Friday evening when she vanished. The little girl’s disappearance has made national headlines in recent days. However, there is more to this story than the happy ending.

Rainn Peterson’s story began on Friday. According to WKYC, she was at the home of her great-grandparents with her two siblings, aged three and four, when she vanished. Her siblings said that was the last time they saw their sister.

Her great-grandparents called the police to report the little girl’s disappearance around 7:30 p.m. on Friday evening. They also called the little girl’s mother, Brandi Peterson. She had left the three children with her grandparents while she moved into a new apartment.

On Friday evening, she was at a tattoo shop with her boyfriend when she learned the news of Rainn’s disappearance. Brandi spoke with the media on Saturday afternoon. There was already a search for the little girl happening in the area near the great-grandparents home.

According to WKYC, Brandi informed them that “the grandmother was cooking in the kitchen and the three children were downstairs with the grandfather. The missing toddler went upstairs and went missing a short time after.”

The police in the area immediately began a search. It was not even clear if Rainn was wearing shoes when she vanished from her great-grandparents home. On Saturday, the search focused on the area near the family home. Dogs had picked up the little girl’s scent in the area, and the search focused on that spot.

However, by Sunday morning, authorities began to lose hope that the little girl was still in the area. The search was expanded to all of Ohio and Western Pennsylvania.

As dark began to fall on Sunday evening, the search teams prepared to call it a night, but one volunteer spotted something in a grassy field about a mile from the family home. When Victor Sutton investigated the spot, he found little Rainn laying there. She was covered in flies, but she was alive.

Sutton spoke with WYTV about finding the little girl.

“I could see her hair, and then obviously, she wasn’t moving, so I thought this is the worst-case scenario. She shook, lifted her head, she turned and she look at me and sat up. So I went from literally devastation to euphoria in three seconds.”

Sutton immediately called 9-1-1 to report that he found the little girl. He was connected with 9-1-1 operator-in-training, Paula Rea. She called Victor a “hero” for finding the little girl. He said, “I’m no saint, but it just is nice to do well for other people.”

Rainn was immediately taken to the hospital for a check-up. According to Tuscon News Now, the Trumball Country Sheriff told the media on Monday that little Rainn Peterson was ” in good shape except for being dehydrated.”

One would think that the little girl being found alive and well would end this story happily. However, that is not the case here. The little girl is now in the custody of Trumbull County Children’s Services during an investigation into her disappearance. Police have treated the spot where she was found as a crime scene.

Brandi Peterson spoke with WKYC again after her daughter was found, and she revealed that she has not been allowed to see Rainn. When she did see her, she would be supervised.

“I’m very, very upset right now. I do really want to thank everyone who volunteered and the police officers. It was a huge search and rescue and thank God because I don’t think they would be able to find her without the people who did. I’m upset because I feel like, ever since this incident started, I was a suspect, from strangers to family members to friends. And they all tried to accuse me. That was very frustrating. I lost my child. I didn’t know where she was. Very, very frustrating and aggravating to have people believe that I had something to do with it. I was the one who brought up the polygraph test and volunteered to take the polygraph test to prove that I had nothing to do with the disappearance of my daughter.”

Her statement went on to express her frustration further. She called the fact that her daughter was being put in foster care while the authorities investigate her disappearance “absolutely outrageous.” Her two sons are still at the home of her grandparents, and they have filed to take over custody of Rainn during the investigation.

The last WKYC report on the disappearance was released Monday night. That report stated that Rainn Peterson would remain in the hospital overnight on Monday. The authorities have a lot of questions about the girl’s disappearance. They had searched the area she was found in twice before Sutton found her on Sunday night. She still has not been reunited with her family.

This story did have a happy ending though. Little Rainn Peterson was found. This story could have had a very different ending.

[Photo: Twitter]

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