Chopper spots missing hiker in the dark

 Searchers early Thursday rescued a 16-year-old girl who went missing for eight hours after a hike near Whitefish.

At about 1 a.m. on Thursday, crews on a Two Bear Air helicopter found the girl in the Lion Mountain area. She had wandered off the trail during a hike Wednesday evening.

According to a news release from Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry, the girl went on a hike with her grandfather on Wednesday. They walked along the Whitefish Trail system northwest of town.

At around 5 p.m., she became separated from her grandfather. He called the Sheriff’s Office. A search crew was mobilized that included sheriff’s deputies, North Valley and Flathead Search and Rescue and Two Bear Air.

Hours later, the girl was found underneath a tree that had fallen and pinned her down. She was just miles from Whitefish but off of the main trail.

“It looks like she was in the dark, had lost a shoe [and] was off the trail quite a ways,” Sheriff Curry said. “She probably just grabbed [the tree] and pulled it over herself.”

The helicopter crew spotted her using infrared technology. Curry said that she was in a spot that would have been tough to see at night from the ground.

“That’s where the air support really shines,” Curry said of the infrared imaging.

A rescuer was lowered from the helicopter and provided care until ground units arrived. The girl was taken to North Valley Hospital.