Update: The Body Of Missing 9 year Old Mikaela Lynch Was Located In Cache Creek

May 14, 2013



CLEARLAKE, Calif. —

Inmate fire crews and a Calfire helicopter joined the search early Tuesday for an autistic child from San Francisco who went missing on Mother's Day from her family's vacation home in Clearlake.

Authorities said nine-year-old Mikaela Lynch, who is autistic and does not speak, was seen on a videotape captured from a camera mounted on a neighboring home running down the street Sunday. She is not familiar with the area and needs medication to prevent seizures.

Her Godfather, Mike Dowling, told KTVU that the family is struggling with the girl’s disappearance but “remains hopeful.”

More than 100 searchers combed the neighboring woods and swamplands for the little girl on Monday. Tuesday saw additional resources committed to the search by Calfire and other agencies.

One of the focal points of the search, authorities said, was a nearby creek because the youngster is drawn to water but cannot swim.

"We've searched residents in the area, backyards, and things like that. So far nothing is indicating the child was taken," said Clearlake police Lt. Tim Cellis.

Still, police checked every vehicle leaving the girl's neighborhood to ensure she wasn't inside.

The vacation home where the girl was staying is just a few yards from a wide section of Cache Creek which drains from Clear Lake.

Some neighbors volunteered to join the searchers.

"It's a little girl. She's a baby still and I want to help find her in any way that I can," said Clearlake resident Donelle Layton.

Boats and dive teams spent much of the day in the water. Locals told KTVU it's a difficult place to search.

"They got all these trees overhanging and there's so many alcoves she can be in," said Kyle Scott of Clearlake. "Not an easy place to look."

Mikaela's condition makes her unable to speak. Police said she wouldn't know how to return home or find a safe place.

The area is marshy and filled with mosquitos. Mikaela also doesn't have her medication.

"She does have seizures if she doesn't take those medications, so obviously that's a concern for us," said Cellis.

One woman heard the missing child likes horses, so she took her mustang for a ride hoping Mikaela might respond.

"Hoping if she likes horses, she'll see horses and come out," said Clearlake resident Phoebe Lee. "Maybe I can go places other people can't."

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CLEARLAKE — Authorities expanded their search Monday for a 9-year-old autistic girl from South San Francisco who can’t speak and went missing from her family’s waterfront vacation home in Northern California.

Additional volunteers and divers were brought in to look for Mikaela Lynch, who disappeared on Sunday while playing in the yard of her home in the Highlands Harbor neighborhood of Clear Lake in Lake County, the Press Democrat of Santa Rosa reported.

She is 4 feet tall, 70 pounds and has brown hair and blue eyes, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

She can’t speak and has the mental capacity of a 1-year-old, Clearlake police Lt. Tim Celli said. The home backs up to waterways.

Celli said Mikaela likes water but does not swim. Police were told she often removed her clothes when she was hot. They found articles of clothing in the yard.

“We’re hoping for the best. This was a terrible tragedy to have a child go missing, especially on Mother’s Day,” he said.

Mikaela had been playing on a trampoline with her younger brother when he went inside, Celli said.

She was alone for an unknown period of time. Her parents were inside the house.

Her mother called for help around 1:30 p.m. Search teams from Sonoma, Napa and Marin counties have joined the search effort.

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Authorities continue to search for a 9-year-old autistic girl who disappeared from her family's Clearlake, Calif., vacation home on Mother's Day.

Mikaela Lynch, of San Francisco, was reported missing from her fenced-in backyard where she had been playing with her younger brother, ABC's San Francisco affiliate KGO-TV reported. Lynch's brother reportedly ran inside to avoid a bee, and left the gate open and his sister unattended.

Bari Lynch, Mikaela's mother, contacted police to report her daughter missing just before 1:30 p.m. Sunday, according to the Clearlake Police Department.

Police said in a statement that the missing girl cannot speak, and given her "mental state, age and circumstances, ... is believed to be an at risk missing juvenile."

A woman who answered the phone at the Clearlake Police Department told ABC News that authorities did not believe Mikaela had been abducted, and that rescue workers were concentrating their search efforts on land and in the water around Lake County.

"She does like water. The residence does back up to waterways," Clearlake Police Lt. Tim Celli told the Santa Rosa Democrat. "As far as we know, she does not swim."

It is believed that Mikaela is naked and shoeless, as police found her clothing in the family's yard.

KGO-TV reported that some of the teachers at Sunset Elementary School in San Francisco, where Mikaela is enrolled, took Monday off to help search for the missing girl.

Haben Porter, a teacher at the school, described Mikaela as "very inquisitive."

"She likes to explore and climb," Porter told KGO-TV. "It's just kind of part of who she is."

Nearly half of all children with autism will run away and potentially go missing at least once before their 17th birthdays, according to a study by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Of those who run away, what clinicians call "eloping," many will be found dead.

In 2012, 195 autistic children went missing, according to the National Autism Association, which only tracks the disappearances reported by the media.

Between 2009 and 2011, 91 percent of autistic children younger than 14 died in drowning incidents after "elopements." More than two-thirds of those deaths occurred in small natural bodies of water, such as creeks, lakes, rivers and ponds, acccording to the National Autism Association.

Still, Clearlake Police Chief Craig Claussen told KGO-TV he was "hopeful about the search."

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Authorities say a 9-year-old autistic girl last seen running naked from her family’s vacation home in Northern California has been missing for three days now with few new clues into her whereabouts.

Mikaela Lynch, who has the mental capacity of a 1-year-old, has been missing in Clearlake since Sunday afternoon after her parents say she was left alone and outside for an 'unknown period of time.'

Her family tells police that Mikaela was playing with her younger brother on a trampoline outside their home around 1pm when she abruptly took off while leaving her clothes and shoes behind.

She was an in enclosed yard, there was some sort of distraction, I believe a bee in the yard, the younger brother opened the gate, went inside, and when they came back, the daughter was missing,' Clearlake Police Lt. Tim Celli told ABC.

Mikaela, originally from San Francisco, is described as 'severely autistic.' She is non-verbal and doesn't respond to being called.

Police were told she often removed her clothes when she was hot. The articles, including her shoes, were found in her family's yard.

A diaper the girl was believed to have been wearing was also located near a waterway by canines at least one house away, Celli told the Santa Rosa Democrat, prompting additional fears of drowning.

On Monday a neighbor's nearby video surveillance instead caught the girl running up the street and away from the waterway, turning the investigation away from the water - an area initially searched by divers.

Authorities say the girl's mother, Bari Lynch, who left in search of her daughter in her truck, unknowingly trailed her daughter's path down the same road only minutes later, but without success.

Authorities say they do not believe she was abducted.

Residents are being asked to look high and low for the girl with her whereabouts believed to be anywhere.

'She's very inquisitive and she likes to explore, climb,' Haben Porter, a teacher at Sunset Elementary School who worked with Mikaela told ABC.

Mikaela is described as 4'0" tall, weighing 70 lbs, with blue eyes and brown hair.

Because of Mikaela's mental state, age and circumstances of her missing, she is believed to be At Risk.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to contact the Clearlake Police Department at 707-994-8251

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This is Horrible!!! She was last seen running naked from her parents vacation home? OMG!

How awful. That house is surrounded by water! If she ran up the street maybe there is hope she is hiding somewhere though.

I hope you are right, Sam...although this doesn't sound good at all.

Mikaela Lynch, 9, Missing Since Sunday: Fear Grows for Autistic Girl

By Sami K. Martin , Christian Post Contributor
May 15, 2013|11:09 am

Mikaela Lynch, 9, went missing from her family's vacation home in Clearlake, Calif. on Sunday. Fears continue to grow because the girl is autistic, cannot speak, and may not realize that she is missing.

Given her "mental state, age and circumstances, is believed to be an at risk missing juvenile," police said in a statement.

The little girl was playing outside in the backyard with her younger brother when he ran inside to avoid a bee. The gate was left open, and Mikaela apparently went missing. Police found her clothing and shoes on the family's yard, leading police to believe that she is completely naked and barefoot.

"She does like water. The residence does back up to waterways. As far as we know, she does not swim," Clearlake Police Lt. Tim Celli told The Santa Rosa Democrat.

Surveillance video from a neighbor's residence shows Mikaela clearly running away from the family's home.

"It shows she was alive and well at a specific time and heading in a certain direction, so we're able to focus our search dogs and scent dogs in that area which can lead us to other areas," Chief Craig Clausen told KSDK News.

Volunteers, including several from Mikaela's school, are helping with the search for the little girl.

"She likes to explore and climb. It's just part of who she is … very inquisitive," Haben Porter, one of the teachers, told KGO-TV.

"Here I am and hopefully we find her," neighbor Jeanette Wilson told KSDK. "We just got to keep praying that she's okay and she's safe and that she gets returned home."

Mikaela's family has asked that people check their yards because she is known to curl up in a comfortable place and remain there. She may not have gotten very far from home, given her age and the fact that she may be barefoot and nude.

"Obviously this is a very difficult time for the family, for the parents especially. We are eternally grateful for the volunteers, the law enforcement, and the people who have come out, the community. The family remains hopeful at this time," Mikaela's godfather, Mike Dowling, said.

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By SEAN SCULLY & RANDI ROSSMANN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 at 8:18 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 at 12:28 p.m.

Searchers late Wednesday morning found the body of 9-year-old Mikaela Lynch in Cache Creek, reported Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen.

The severely autistic San Francisco girl had been missing since Sunday afternoon, when she disappeared from the back yard of a home along the Lake County waterway.

A dive team found her body in the murky water, not far from the home where her family had been vacationing over the Mother's Day weekend, Clausen said.

The family had been planning to make their first public comments since the ordeal began but the press conference was cancelled with the finding.

Mikaela's developmental disabilities included that she couldn't speak and had the mental abilities of about a 1-year-old.

The girl was reportedly naked and shoeless when she slipped out of the family yard on Mother's Day. She'd been playing on a trampoline with her younger brother and briefly had been on her own in the yard.

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I'm sorry to read this.
I think the fact that such a large number of autistic children die by drowning was a prelude of what was to come. There was water on all sides of that vacation home, it seemed inevitable that she would find her way into it.
Very Sad News.

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How sad. I had hoped they might find her alive. Poor baby.