One Of The Worst Nightmare Of Parents Is Waking Up In The Morning And Found Out That Their Kids Are Missing.
January 17, 1997, married couple Marlene and Thomas Woracek woke up in the freezing morning to find some of the lights were left turned on, so Thomas decided to check whats happening and a rush of fear came over him when he saw that their twins are missing. He quickly ran downstairs, only to find more lights had been turned on elsewhere in the house. The twins’ toys were found strewn all over the rooms downstairs. Even more terrifying was that the front door had been left open.
"I just saw the lights on and front door open and hand prints on the door," Woracek recalled. "I yelled for Marlene, 'the girls are gone' and we started looking. I didn't know where to look. I saw footprints but once I got down to the street, there were too many prints to follow so it was scary."
He then immediately calls the police.
When police arrived they made a thorough search of the house and checked if there is a possibility of force used at the door but it was not the case because no force has been used. Now this will get more scary knowing that the twins walked out their homes with only a backpack and boots. They left their hats and mittens.
Officers knew it will be a race against time as the temperature outside posed serious threats to the lives of the little girls.
The investigations also determined that the girls went on the back porch where they had left their backpack. It looked like they tried getting back inside through the back door, but it was locked. So, they probably thought they should set out on a little adventure further away from the house.
The officers immediately search for the kids and the first place they want to go is the day care center and while going there they also checked possible shelters that the kids might have used.
46 minutes after the police responded to the Woraceks' call. Officer Kister saw a small footprint on the snow near an alley not far from the Woraceks' house.
They hurriedly follow the trail for about 300 feet then, they saw something terrifying they stumbled upon some children's boots in the snow.
“We found the shoes first and we looked up and we could tell further down that’s where they were at. When you first see that shoe, OK, this is getting worse, shoes and no kids and it’s cold out,” Officer Kister said.
Officers searched desperately, until, just 15 feet away, they saw the twins Jennifer and Kourtney huddled tightly together Kourtney was on top of Jennifer as if she were shielding her against the cold because she had taken off her coat.
According to 1997 Omaha World-Herald article, Sgt. William Muldoon recalled how harrowing the moment was when they finally discovered the little girls. “The one was covering and huddling over the other,” he said. “She (Kourtney) said, ‘Help my sister.’”
There was no time to call and wait for an ambulance. The officers quickly wrapped Jennifer around their coats and brought her to a waiting police car in haste. The other officers brought Kourtney to another car. They drove the twins to St. Joseph Hospital.
“I remember her hands and they were like ice hands, ice balls. I was trying to dig and dig the snow out, but her hand wouldn’t move, ” according to Officer Allen Wagner who picked Jennifer up from the snow.
Officer Wagner added that by the time they arrived at the hospital, Jennifer stopped breathing. Medics wasted no time in flying her by helicopter to another hospital in a desperate attempt to save her.
At the next hospital, doctors performed a special procedure in an attempt to save Jennifer’s life. It involved using a machine to draw her blood out to warm it before pumping it back into her body. It was a grueling and risky process, but one worth taking.
And taking the risk did pay off. Jennifer was revived and Kourtney was out of harm’s way. The officers were just in time to save them. According to Officer Muldoon, if it took them just a few minutes longer to find the girls, one or both of them could have died.
But the girls’ ordeal wasn’t over so soon. They needed months to recover from the frostbite with strenuous and sometimes painful physical therapy. Miraculously, none of the girls ever lost any of their fingers or toes from the freezing cold.
In an interview, Jennifer and Kourtney described the painful effects of the frostbite and the physical therapy they endured, “We had to relearn how to walk again. We had blisters,” Jennifer recalled.
Twenty years after the terrible event, KETV, an Omaha news station, put together a surprise occasion for the twins who now turned 23 years old: a reunion of Jennifer and Kourtney with the police officers that saved their lives more than two decades ago.
During the event, as the girls walked in the room, they were surprised with warm greetings from Officers Kister and Wagner. It was an emotional reunion for the four of them. “Thank you so much,” Kourtney said, barely containing her emotions. “We owe you everything,” she added.
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