ELLSWORTH — Two Hancock girls spent the night in the woods Friday after becoming lost just 3,000 feet from one’s house, the Maine Warden Service reported.
The girls, Amanda Alley, 15, and Selena Alley, 12, who are cousins, had left Deerfield Drive, which is off Route 182, around 5 p.m., wardens said.
The girls were going to walk to a local spot in the woods near the residence when they got lost on one of the trails.
Ten game wardens along with Hancock County Sheriff’s deputies and Maine State Police searched during the night.
Once daylight arrived, a Maine Warden Service aircraft, a Maine Forest Service helicopter, Maine Search and Rescue dogs and MDI Search and Rescue assisted as well.
During Warden Paul Farrington’s search with search dog Koda, the girls were found 3,000 feet to the west of their residence.
The Warden Service said the girls practiced survival techniques including stopping once they realized they were lost. They also made a shelter and tried to start a campfire using their eyeglasses and two sticks.