Hello, Survivorists. This is the Crux True Survival Story podcast. I'm Casey McIntosh. And I'm Julie

Henningson. And we are medical professionals with a passion for wilderness survival. Join us as we

explore real lifelife survival stories

and the critical moments that determine their outcomes.

Buckle up. Adventure awaits.

Let's dive into this week's story.

The front door is wide open.

Huh, that's the first thing Melinda notices

when she walks into the living room on the morning

of December 24, 1990, Christmas Eve. She'd fallen asleep on the couch the night before

with the TV on, and at some point in the night she'd woken up, checked on her three-year-old

daughter, Brittany, sleeping on the living room floor,

tucked her back in under a blanket and gone to bed.

That was three in the morning, and everything was fine.

Now it's 9.30 a.m.

And the front door of their trailer in Elkins, West Virginia, is standing wide open.

Outside, it's 27 degrees Fahrenheit, negative 3 Celsius, just below freezing. There's snow on the ground and fog in the air. The wind at 16 miles per hour pushes the felt temperature meaningfully lower, and Brittany is gone. Nowhere to be found. Welcome back to the Crux True Survival Stories. I'm Julie Henningson, and I'm Casey McIntosh. Before we go any further,

a big thanks to listener Brandon Allen for his suggestion of this story. It's absolutely remarkable.

Let's get into it by introducing you to three-year-old Brittany Eichelberger, because she's not a headline. She's a three-year-old

with opinions about cookies. She's a blonde, blue-eyed toddler, and she had spent the entire day

before Christmas Eve asking her mother to bake M&M cookies.

Melinda, her mom, finally relented and made chocolate chip instead.

...