Mom screamed when the 6-year-old was found in barrels (exclusive)

• Gracelynn Vick, 6, by Saucian, Miss, went out to play in the yard where she lived with her mother on April 13 – and hours after she disappeared, she found and pronounced dead
• The police, who have called her death a “tragic accident,” said Gracelynn died after she crawled inside a nearby barrel and was caught inside
• Gracelynn’s death is the latest tragedy for Mom Vicki Hutcherson, who has lost three children in about four years, says a family member

Jackie Polk, Aunt to Gracelynn Vick-A 6-year-old girl whose tragic death Last month, their family and their Mississippi community rocked – remembers her niece as an adventurous girl who loved being out, especially in the yard in Saucier, where she lived with her mother, Vicki Hutcherson.

“Gracelynn was an exuberant child,” Polk, 55, tells People. “I mean, full of energy, full of SASS.”

“She only loved outdoors,” adds her aunt. “You can give her sticks, clay and stones and a tree to climb. And she was super happy.”

At about 12.00 local time on April 13, Gracelynn went out to play in the garden and then disappeared, according to Harrison County Sheriff’s Office. The authorities spent hours looking for Gracelyn before she was found about 6pm and pronounced dead.

Four days after Gracelynn’s death, Harrison County Sheriff Matt Haley said that her death was a ‘tragic accident“And that she recorded in a nearby barrel, closed the lid from within and was caught.

“There were absolutely no signs of Foul Play,” Haley at the news conference. Although her cause of death has not yet been announced, the sheriff said that because of the heat index on the day of her death, Madelynn “would have experienced a combination of heat stress and limited oxygen supply inside the barrel.”

“This effect would resemble it to a child who gets stuck in a hot car during the summer,” he added.

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Polk, who lives 20 miles away in Hancock County, reminds to get a phone call from Hutcherson, 46, after her mother noticed that her daughter had disappeared. “She couldn’t find her,” Polk says. “She had shouted to her and she had applied.”

When she arrived at her sister’s farm, police and emergency recipients were already present. “There were so many people everywhere,” she says. “I mean, I counted at least five search dogs.”

Polk says an investigator of Mississippi’s working group was the one who found Gracelynn. “Vicky was next to the investigator,” says Polk. “When Gracie was found, she screamed and I ran to her. Everything happened within seconds.”

Gracelynn’s death is the latest tragedy for Hutcherson, who has lost three children in about four years.

In July 2021, her son Larry Hart died at the age of 17. “They said he had a missing enzyme in the liver,” Polk says, sharing that her nephew used a feeding tube and never talked or went, but “could recognize voices because we could see it based on his behavior and reaction.”

“(Gracelynn) loved his brother,” says Polk. “She would get to bed when she was even a little baby … she would rather climb than walk, and she would climb all over his hospital bed and lie down there and sleep.”

In March 2024, Gracelynn’s sister Victoria13, killed in a crash. “They loved each other very much,” says Polk about the sisters’ relationship. “There are lots of videos with them on vacation.”

Six months later, Hutcherson’s hubby was diagnosed with a rare cancer and died. “Our family has undergone deadly hell,” says Polk. “We have seen more of our family and large family for the past four years than we have our entire lives because we have had so many funerals.”

Gracelynn’s funeral was held on April 21 and a vigil with candles took place at Saucier Park the following day. The event was mounted by the local nonprofit group Friendly heart organizationWho raised money to pay for Gracelynn’s funeral and funeral. Extra means will be used to place a memory bench and a tree that blooms pink flowers at Saucier Elementary, Gracelynn’s school.

Dannette Necaise, the group’s founder, tells people that the organization first learned what happened to Gracelynn via social media while the girl was still missing. “I just went on to tell others in the group,“ We ​​have to do something. I don’t know what, but we have to do something, ”says Nebise.

About 150 people participated in the awake, including family, members of the community and emergency recipients who participated in the search, recalls Necaise. “We got a local pastor to come out and talk to the crowd and pray over everyone,” she says, adding that it moved to “See how many people this little child had touched.”