By Staff
Jonathan Willis
A Franklin County family was blessed with a happy ending Thursday night to what had been a rather frightful evening.
Rescue crews from all parts of Franklin County merged on Burnout late Thursday as reports surfaced that a 16-year-old girl was missing.
Sharity Selman went into the woods about 5:30 p.m. looking for her family's three-pound Pomeranian that had wandered away from the family's home near Alabama 24 and Franklin 21.
Selman's grandmother, Jamelle Ellington, said the girl tripped and fell down a small hill, causing her to lose her sense of direction and became lost.
"I was terrified," Ellington said. "The weather so cold and I just kept thinking the worst."
The Burnout and Belgreen fire departments were the first to arrive on the scene to search for Selman, but crews from across the county arrived shortly thereafter.
"People were here from all over to help us," Ellington said.
Selman was found along a roadside about 8:30 p.m. Ellington said her granddaughter kept moving to help keep herself warm and eventually found her way to Alabama 24 where she was picked up by rescue crews.
"We are just so thankful to everyone who came out and helped us," Ellington said. "I don't even know where everyone was from, but we are forever grateful to them. It was such a blessing to see all of the people willing to help and then to find her, was just wonderful."
Selman did not need medical attention and was in good condition despite the freezing temperatures.