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Two missing girls found in central FloridaSisters say they huddled together overnight to stay warm
KISSIMMEE, Florida (CNN) -- Two sisters, found Sunday morning after being lost overnight in freezing temperatures, said they huddled in a hollow tree to sleep when they were unable to attract the attention of search and rescue helicopters. Elizabeth Murrell, 12, and her sister Amanda, 9, were found about 10:30 a.m. ET Sunday in woods about two miles from the Tropical Palms Resort campground, west of Kissimmee, where their parents last saw them, said Osceola County Sheriff's detective Michelle Keefer. The sisters found a road Sunday morning and were walking when they encountered searchers in four-wheel drive vehicles, Elizabeth told reporters as she sipped a soft drink. Elizabeth said she and her sister tried to return to the campground Saturday about 4:45 p.m. because their father had a meeting at 5 p.m., but "we got lost, basically." "Then it got dark so we just decided to find somewhere to stay for the night," the older sister said. "During the night we saw these helicopters and we were trying to get their attention. So basically we just bundled up together in our jackets and stuff." "It was really cold. I had frost on my jacket," she added. They tried again to flag search helicopters Sunday morning, she said. Keefer said the girls told searchers they had tried to follow a canal in the woods before realizing they were lost. The sisters were being checked by a doctor, "but they are both in very good health, very positive," the detective said. She said their parents were "ecstatic." Four other siblings were staying at the campgroud in central Florida. The family is from Savannah, Georgia. The parents called the sheriff's office about 6:45 p.m., about two hours after the girls had left for a walk in the woods, Keefer said. Both girls were clad in light jackets, concerning the dozens of searchers because temperatures dipped below freezing overnight. "They had asked their parents if they could explore the woods," she said. "Of course, then the parents wondered where they were." Keefer said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement called an "Amber" alert for the girls, activating signs on turnpikes and major highways asking the public for leads. Amber (America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) is a voluntary partnership between law-enforcement agencies and broadcasters to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious missing child cases. The system was created in 1996 as a legacy to 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped while riding her bicycle and murdered in Arlington, Texas.
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