‘She was a tough little girl’: Man finds missing girl safe in the woods

CHESTERFIELD, Va. (WWBT/Gray News) - A man found a missing 11-year-old safe in the woods in Virginia on Tuesday.

“I’m a stay-at-home parent and I got some free time and, honestly, I just wanted to get out and do what I could,” Kevin Zavinsky said. “I would want someone to do that if it was either of my children.”

Chesterfield Police Department sent out an alert for the community to look for Isabelle Pittera, who officers said was diagnosed with an intellectual disability. Police said Isabelle was reported missing Monday evening after she got upset while playing a game with her sisters and left.

As officers used different resources to comb through six different areas to find her, Zavinsky said he had a hunch.

“I’d just seen that her mom had mentioned that she liked water,” he said. “I saw Falling Creek was nearby. I saw it was a cool area, Falling Creek, and if I was a kid that’s where I’d be.”

Zavinskey went over to Claredon Park to start searching for Isabelle.

“I went off the trail and kind of just tried to make my way back and forth from the bank to where I could. I happened to be crossing over a little stream and looked and saw that flash of pink,” he said.

Zavinsky said he found Isabelle sitting in a clearing in the woods, scratched up and cold.

“Honestly, I told her she was a tough little girl. I’m out here in a sweater and a vest and I was cold and she made it all night,” he said. “I had a first aid kit, so I got the emergency blanket out and wrapped her up in that.”

Zavinsky then called 911. Authorities were in the middle of a press conference when they got the news.

“She was found by a member of the community, that is what we need, right?” said Captain Pete Cimbal at the podium. “We need people to pay attention to some of the news alerts and the media releases that we give and also to look at their camera systems. At this point, that person probably needs a great thank you.”

Zavinsky says seeing the young girl reunite with her family was everything.

“Seeing her and her mom hugging was all I could’ve asked for,” he said. “I’m so just elated. I’m just very, very happy.”