Some of our readers may well remember the extraordinary story of Jessica McClure Morales. In 1987, aged just 18 months old, she vanished while playing with four other children in her aunt’s backyard in Midland, Texas.
Frantic family members soon discovered that she had fallen 22 feet down a well that they thought was covered over.
Her mother, Cissy, told PEOPLE: “I didn’t know what to do. I just ran in and called the police. They were there within three minutes, but it felt like a lifetime.”
Little Jessica was trapped, and her terrifying plight soon garnered the attention of news stations across the US. A huge, round-the-clock rescue operation began, with emergency responders, drilling specialists, and volunteers working tirelessly to reach her over the course of two days.
Jessica was stuck without food or water. The first officer to arrive on scene was Bobbie Jo Hall, who recalled seeing nothing when he initially peered into the hole.
“I called the baby’s name three or four times and didn’t hear anything. Finally I got a cry in response,” he told PEOPLE.
“We didn’t know how deep she was until we lowered a tape hooked to a flashlight into the hole.”
