4-YEAR-OLD FOUND ONLY SLIGHTLY INJURED HOURS AFTER FATAL ACCIDENT

ESSEX -- A 4-year-old Dexter girl escaped with only minor injuries in an early morning car accident that killed her mother. The girl climbed from the car and was found walking along the road hours after the accident.

Her mother, Rebecca L. Snider, 35, died after she was thrown from the car, which ran off the road and overturned. Neither the mother nor girl was wearing a seat belt, said a spokesman for the Missouri Highway Patrol.

The accident occurred at 1 a.m. Thursday about 5 miles southeast of Essex on Route CC. It was not discovered until 7:30 a.m. when Snider's daughter, Chelsea, was found walking along the road, the patrol said.

Authorities said the girl crawled out of the car. A local farmer found her about a quarter of a mile from the wrecked vehicle.

She was unharmed by exposure because of unseasonably warm weather.

"When I got to the scene, she was in the arms of her father asleep," said Stoddard County Coroner Greg Mathis. "Somebody was looking out for her."

Chelsea was released to her father and is staying with grandparents.

Nunnelee Funeral Home in Sikeston is in charge of funeral arrangements for Snider.