4 missing kids rescued near Tenkiller Dam early Wednesday

VIAN, Okla. (KNWA/KFTA) — After nearly 12 hours, four missing kids from Sequoyah Co. have been found.

Search and rescue crews worked the area all night searching for the kids, using drones and thermal imagine to find them. Tulsa Police used a chopper and found the kids right below a steep bluff near Tenkiller Dam. The kids are ages five, six, seven and nine.

The kids were spotted by a helicopter crew around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, December 2, about a mile away from where they were last seen Tuesday. They appeared to be safe, just extremely cold.

Sheriff Larry Lane said their grandmother last saw them in her backyard on Moonshine Rd. around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. Their great grandmother said she went to look for them around 3 p.m. and couldn’t find them, calling authorities right away.

They were found in an area trapped between a body of water and the steep bluff, and they couldn’t get anywhere. A couple Sequoyah County deputies and a Cherokee Marshall climbed down the bluff and tried to find a way to get the kids out, and the volunteer fire department used a boat to ultimately rescue them.

“It’s very steep, very dangerous, rough terrain down there. It’s thick woods, deep bluffs, rocks, very hard terrain to navigate, especially for small children,” said Lane. “It surprises me that they could get that far, but they did.”

The kids were checked by EMS and are now home.