Jocelyn Lewis sparked an enormous search on Queensland’s Gold Coast after she wandered away from her family’s home on Sunday night. Now, the five-year-old has revealed what she got up to during those 22 hours.
According to her father, Steve Lewis, Jocelyn said she was “looking after three tigers” on the bank of the Worongary swap near where she was ultimately found, reports The Gold Coast Bulletin.
“She said she was following a bear and looking after three tigers,” he said.
“We actually found a book in her room along those lines, so she’s gotten the idea somewhere. The only other thing she said was that she crawled through a big grate, which I assume was a drain.”
Jocelyn vanished at around 4pm on Sunday afternoon, leading police to issue an amber alert – an urgent broadcast reserved for ‘high-risk’ missing children.
More than 150 SES volunteers, emergency service workers and local residents searched for the young girl, who was ultimately found by two women at 3pm the following day.
Wearing just a t-shirt and shorts when she disappeared, Jocelyn told the newspaper that she had looked for sticks to make a fire to keep herself warm, but “couldn’t see any with all that long grass in the way”.
She survived the ordeal with little more than scratches and bruises.
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Top Comments
Does she feel safe at home?
It doesn't sound like she was trying to hide or get away from something to me. It sounds like an imaginative, impulsive child who wants to be off having 'adventures'. I hope the parents are spending this weekend adding some extra bolts to the front door!