Page 38 of High Country Escape

“Is there anything you can tell us to help in our search?” Danny asked. “For instance, had Sarah seen something on an earlier hike that interested her? Something she might have tried to go back and photograph? Or is she the type of kid to get sidetracked by an animal or a bird?”

Sarah’s mother shook her head. “No, she isn’t like that. Sarah is very mature for her age and she wouldn’t have wandered off by herself. If she said she was going to the campground entrance, that’s where she would have gone.”

“Is she shy or outgoing?” Danny asked. “Would she have talked to strangers?”

“She isn’t shy,” her mother said. “But she knows not to engage with people she doesn’t know. We taught her to be careful.”

“Sheriff!”

They turned to see Deputy Jamie Douglas leading a slight, older man toward them. “This is Mr. Roman,” Jamie said. “He may have some information for us.”

Roman wiped at his nose and looked nervously at the crowd gathered around him. About five foot six, he was dressed in a red-and-black flannel shirt that looked a size too large, khaki pants and black sandals and wore the expression of someone who wanted to be anywhere else but talking to law enforcement. “I don’t know if it means anything or not, but earlier today, I thought I heard a scream. But it could have been an animal or something.”

“When did you hear this?” Travis asked.

Roman sniffed. “About noon? I wasn’t looking at a clock or anything, but I was just back from a hike.”

“Just the one scream?”

“Yeah. Not all that loud.”

“Which direction was it coming from?” Travis asked.

“I thought up toward the road.” Roman looked around. “But it’s hard to tell direction in these woods.”

“Did you hear anything else?” Travis asked. “A car or other voices?”

“Not really. Just campground noises. People at the next campsite were packing up to leave, and they were talking back and forth, so they pretty much drowned out everything else.”

“Thank you, Mr. Roman,” Travis said. “Deputy Douglas will get your information, and we’ll be in touch if we have more questions.” He turned back to Sarah’s parents. “Tell the searchers what Sarah was wearing, please.”

“She had on blue cotton shorts and a T-shirt from Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park,” Mrs. Michaelson said. “And blue sandals. She was carrying a cell phone in a pink case. She was so proud of that phone. She got it for her tenth birthday. It doesn’t have a lot of apps on it or anything, but she loved taking pictures with it.” She put a hand to her mouth, fighting tears.

“Thank you both,” Travis said. “We’ll keep you updated on anything we find.” He walked away from the family. Danny and some of the volunteers, including Dalton, followed. “Gage and Anna and Jacquie are at the family’s campsite now,” the sheriff said. “I’m hoping they’ll pick up a scent. Wait to head out until we see what they find.”

They didn’t have to wait long. Gage soon joined them. “The dog led us right to the road,” he said. “Then she lost the scent. Anna thinks that means the girl got into a vehicle. She and Jacquie are still searching, trying to pick up the scent again.”

“So maybe Mr. Roman did hear a scream, when someone pulled the girl into a vehicle,” Danny said.

“Or maybe it was an animal noise and the girl went willingly with someone she knew,” Travis said.

“The family is from Junction, aren’t they?” Gage asked.

“I’ll ask them if there’s anyone local Sarah would have gone with,” Travis said. “In the meantime, we’ll have searchers combboth sides of the road leading from the entrance. Search for the girl, but also look for any signs of a struggle.”

Dalton was assigned to search with Harper and Caleb. The three searched along a half-mile section of the road and into the woods a hundred yards. They took turns calling Sarah’s name, their shouts and those of other searchers echoing through the trees. Dalton tried to remember everything he had learned in his training on searches. He had been taught that children would sometimes hide from rescuers, and that kids could walk much farther than most people estimated.

“If somebody grabbed her off the road, she could be miles from here by now,” Harper said when they stopped to drink water.

“There was that guy earlier this year who was trying to kidnap kids,” Caleb said.

“Yeah, but he went after boys,” Harper said. “And he’s in jail now.”

“There are too many creeps out there,” Caleb said.

Dalton remained silent. Was this what had happened to Roxanne? Had William Ledger grabbed her off the street? His attempt to run Roxanne off the road and the break-in of her house pointed to him being in the area. Could he have decided to target another little girl?

They searched until darkness made navigating the thick woods impossible, then regrouped at a clearing a few hundred yards from the campground that had been designated as a staging area. “You look beat,” Bethany said when she found Dalton by a watercooler.