Young girl found frozen to death on Sask. reserve

A three-year-old girl was found frozen to death Tuesday and her one-year-old sister was missing on the Yellow Quill First Nation east of Saskatoon.

RCMP Sgt. Brad Kaeding said a man from the community had been picked up about 5:30 a.m. suffering from frostbite and hypothermia, and was taken to hospital in nearby Kelvington.

However, it wasn't until eight hours later that the man informed police his daughters were missing.

"When the man was able to speak to investigators at approximately 1:30 in the afternoon, he enquired at that point as to the welfare of his children," said Kaeding.

"One child, believed to be a three-year-old girl, has since been found outdoors between his own residence and the residence approximately 400 metres away from where he was picked up by ambulance and the RCMP.

"A second child believed to be a one-year-old girl has not been located."

Kaeding said an autopsy will be conducted on the three-year-old girl.

He said no charges had yet been laid.

Weather in Saskatchewan was bitterly cold Tuesday, combined with the wind chill factor it felt like-50 C as the result of a weather system that had much of the country in a deep freeze.

It was so cold that humane society officials were recommending people not even allow their pets outdoors.

Tuesday's events on the Yellowquill reserve had a far more tragic outcome than similar incidents in recent years.

In December 2004 in southern Alberta, two-year-old Zachary Nielsen suffered frostbite after spending just half an hour outside in only his sweatpants and boots. The boy had followed his trucker father outside when the man left for work at 4 a.m.

Ten years earlier, in Roleau, Sask., Karlee Kosolofski also followed her unsuspecting father out of the family home on a cold February morning. The two-year-old was declared clinically dead but was rushed to hospital and survived, although her left leg had to be amputated above the knee.

In February 2001, one-year-old Erika Nordby nearly froze to death in Edmonton after venturing outside in -24 C in the middle of the night. She was also declared clinically dead, but was revived in hospital and made a complete recovery other than some scarring on her feet.