The search for a missing child ended in heartbreak.

In Baraboo, Wisconsin, rescuers raced to find 10-year-old Kodie Dutcher after she vanished on a July afternoon, leaving her phone and shoes behind.

By the next morning, a discovery near her home had shattered hopes of a safe return, while the information released by authorities still left heartbreaking questions unan…

Kodie was last seen around 4 p.m. on July 6, 2020, in the 1100 block of 12th Street in Baraboo. Police responded to an apartment complex that afternoon and spoke with her mother.

Concerned that the child was vulnerable and needed urgent help, authorities issued an Amber Alert. Officers, Baraboo Fire Department personnel, and K-9 teams from Wisconsin Dells joined the effort to locate her, searching nearby areas for any sign of where she had gone.

At approximately 11 a.m. on July 7, authorities located Kodie’s body near 11th Street and County Highway T. The search became an investigation into the circumstances of her death.

The information provided did not establish a cause, leaving no basis for speculation about what happened. For those who loved Kodie and those who worked to find her, the outcome meant confronting the loss of a child they had hoped to bring home safely.