Help from God

by **Wind-Dancer** April 14th 2010, 5:56 pm

Police: Volunteer Who Found Florida Girl a 'Hero'Updated: 1 hour 40 minutes ago

Lisa Flam
Contributor

AOL News (April 14) -- James King was prepared. With water, trail mix, his Bible and a GPS-equipped phone, he entered the thick alligator-filled swampy woods on a solo journey to look for missing 11-year-old Nadia Bloom.

Wanting to get a jump on the day's search, King, 44, set out on his own at daybreak Tuesday to look for the little girl he knew from church. Nadia had vanished Friday from her Winter Springs, Fla., neighborhood, setting off an intense search for the long-haired fifth grader with Asperger's syndrome.

"I went in and then the Lord told me to follow where the sunrise was," he said today on NBC's "Today" show. "I would call 'Nadia.' Then I'd be praying and talking to the Lord.

"One time I said, "Nadia' and I heard, 'What?'" King said, recounting the moment he first made contact with Nadia on Tuesday morning, about two hours after entering an area that searchers had yet to comb. "And I said, 'Ah, I'm going that way.'"

King said they kept calling back and forth until he reached her. "There she was, sitting on a log," he said, "looking expectantly, like, 'You're finally here.'"

King calmly called 911 to report the rescue.

The police chief praised King's effort.

"He came out with her and for that, he's a hero," Winter Springs Police Chief Kevin Brunelle told AOL News in a phone interview today. "Right now everything we have doesn't say that Mr. King did anything inappropriate or broke any laws."

Brunelle said police will investigate all of the leads they received and will talk to Nadia again but didn't expect any suspects in the case. On Tuesday, Nadia told authorities that "she went for a walk and got lost and Mr. King found her," Brunelle said.

In the recording of the 911 call, King calmly states: "I've got her. I've got Nadia. OK, I'm in the middle of the swamp. I can give you my GPS coordinates off this Blackberry. I just got to figure out how to get them again."

The male dispatcher asks to speak with Nadia. "Hi, this is Nadia. I am the girl that got lost," she tells him, before asking for his name.

King said she was in good shape except for bug bites and dehydration and that she was barefoot.

He offered her an apple, while still on the phone with authorities.

"Sure an apple! I'd love an apple," Nadia said.

King had also brought toilet paper with him, intending on using it to leave a trail so he could exit the woods. But he realized he wouldn't be leaving the same way -- it was too dangerous -- so he used the toilet tissue to cover the tops of bushes so a helicopter could find them.

In the late morning, Nadia was carried out of the woods on a black sling, where her parents and younger sister were waiting.

Nadia's father, Jeff Bloom, hugged King, according to reports. "Things don't always turn out this way," he said. "We're so blessed."

Nadia said two things to officers after being rescued, Brunelle said: "Glad you guys found me. Can't believe you rescued me."

Nadia was released from a hospital Tuesday night and was said to be doing well.

Though he was called a hero, King was interviewed by police.

King said police checked his background and his car, but did not request that he take a polygraph test or give a DNA sample, the Orlando Sentinel reported. The paper said a check of a state database shows he does not have a criminal record.

King said on the "Today" show that the police treated him with professionalism, and he acknowledged the potential for skepticism.

"They're doing their job," he said. "They don't know who I am. Who's this guy? I wasn't a part of the official search party. They checked me out."