by Walter Pacheco and Gary Taylor

Orlando Sentinel

April 13, 2010

WINTER SPRINGS -- A group of civilian searchers said Nadia Bloom has been found alive.

The 11-year-old had been missing since Friday afternoon. The girl was thought to be somewhere in a vast conservation area between her home and alligator-infested Lake Jesup.

P.J. Yarosh of Metro Church in Winter Springs said he thinks one of their church members found Nadia Bloom. The girl and her family attend services at that church.

"We are very excited about it, too," Yarosh said this morning. "We are still waiting for confirmation and we're happy she was found alive."

Yarosh said the church has about 700 members.

Patricia Guobadia, a spokeswoman for the Blooms, said "our prayers have been answered…it's just celebration today."

There is heavy police presence on State Road 417, just south of the Lake Jesup bridge. Crime scene tape is covering an opening near S.R. 417 and a law-enforcement chopper is hovering over that area.

Tracking teams exited the area with a bloodhound and they do not have Nadia; however, a fire rescue official said the child will most likely exit near State Road 434.

The search had entered its fourth day this morning before the girl's discovery.

On Monday, authorities had scoured swampy woods, lakes and the gated Seminole County neighborhood of Barrington Estates for any clue to Nadia's whereabouts.

Despite the lack of leads, Brunelle had always maintained: "I'm not willing to give up on her."

The fifth-grader had last been seen riding her bike in her neighborhood. Her sister, Sophia, had told police Nadia could be carrying a video camera in her backpack with the intent of making a nature video.

Investigators had said a book about a girl who loved the outdoors may have inspired Nadia to seek her own adventure in woods before she vanished.

Nadia, who has an autism-related disorder called Asperger's Syndrome, read a book called "Lanie," the story of a 10-year-old girl who explores her backyard and documents what she sees.

"We haven't seen any common link with [the book and] what we are investigating," Brunelle said Monday. "The only thing we can figure with the book is that they are both nature lovers."

GROUPS FOCUS ON LAKE JESUP

Rescue groups had focused their search in areas around Lake Jesup, one of Central Florida's most alligator-infested bodies of water.

Her mother, Tanya Bloom, had told officers Nadia had left her bicycle upright on its kick-stand, her helmet hanging on the handlebars, in the cul-de-sac of Wrentham Court. That's less than a third of a mile from the family's home in the 1400 block of Wescott Loop.

Working from an aerial photograph, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement had organized a detailed grid search.

By late afternoon Monday, Brunelle said there had been 12 dives in six nearby bodies of water; 12 flights encompassing more than 12 hours utilizing heat-seeking radar; and search crews and scent-sniffing search dogs re-scouring areas previously searched.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office mounted patrol also had joined the search.

Nadia's parents have not spoken with the media since their daughter had been reported missing.

At least one family friend was worried Nadia wandered out into the woods because her younger sister, Sophia, went on a trip Friday to the Everglades with her father, Jeff Bloom, and her fellow Brownies.

"I think Nadia had planned her own adventure," said Tracy McCoy, a family friend.

This is not the first time Nadia had wandered off, officials said.

Brunelle said Nadia had left her classmates once during a school field trip, but a teacher brought her back to the group.

It was unclear whether Nadia's medical condition played any role in her disappearance.

Leslie Gavin, a clinical psychologist and chief of the division of behavior pediatrics at Nemours Children's Clinic, said Monday that people with the Asperger's Syndrome often have a lot of anxiety.

"If she thought that she would be in a lot of trouble or these people were not known to her, she might try to hide," Gavin said.

Brunelle said the agency's K-9 dogs had tracked her scent into the woods near Lake Jesup, but had found nothing in the previous searches.