‘Lucky’ accident leads Swedish police officers to missing toddler

On Sunday, a lucky car accident led Swedish police to a missing toddler.

According to the Local, police officers skidded off a snow-covered road into a ditch. When the officers got out of the vehicle to push it free, they heard a little girl whimpering nearby.

The officers trudged through waist-deep snow to find the cold but healthy toddler.

The 2-year-old girl, barefoot and lightly dressed, had wandered away from her family's home in Ljusdal, central Sweden three hours earlier. Police had been notified and an extensive search was underway.

"We immediately started an extensive search as it was deemed a serious case," Paul Edenström of the Gävleborg county police told the Aftonbladet newspaper.

"We were on our way up with helicopters from Stockholm and we had dogs and all the available police resources at hand."

Before helicopters started to search for her, however, the officers' accident led them straight to her.

"She was frozen and sad, but she didn't need any medical attention. The police took her directly home to her parents," Edenström said. "It was really comforting for everyone that we found her."