Sheriff's deputy rescues toddler trapped in pond

KNOB NOSTER, Mo. -- A Johnson County, Missouri, sheriff's deputy rescued a missing toddler found trapped in a muddy pond and nearly submerged with water up to her neck.

The 2-year-old girl had been missing for about 20 minutes when deputies were dispatched to a rural address north of Knob Noster at 4:17 p.m. Monday.

Within minutes of arriving, Cpl. Nicole Collins noticed a large pond several hundred yards from the home. Collins, who has been with the sheriff's department for four years, asked the parents and neighbors whether the pond had been searched.

"Her training and experience kicked in; she knew that she needed to exhaust all the possibilities of where the child could possibly be at," Sheriff Scott Munsterman said in a phone interview.

After learning the location had not been searched, she went directly there and found the girl about 10 to 15 feet off the bank stuck in the mud.

"She immediately removed her outer vest portion of her uniform and went into the pond and retrieved the child without incident, the sheriff said.

"Everyone at the sheriff's office would like to commend Cpl. Collins on her quick action in regards to this life saving incident," the department said in a Facebook post.