CNN 2010-04-18

WHITFIELD: You can't help but use the words like divine 1 intervention 2 here because the --

MATTINGLY: Yes. Yes.

WHITFIELD: The forces that brought these two together pretty extraordinary.

Now tell me, this little girl which was out for a walk, that kind of thing? Is this something she would do all the time and this happened to be the time that she would just get very lost?

MATTINGLY: According 3 to the police chief she was reading this book about a little girl who would go out on nature walk, and that's what she was doing. She went out on a nature walk. She just got lost, ended up going deep into this thicket 4.

She ended up being in the very spot, the very last place that rescuers thought she would be, so they hadn't looked in there yet. And it wasn't until James King walked in there on his own that they were able to find her.

WHITFIELD: Just a volunteer.

MATTINGLY: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Just a guy --

MATTINGLY: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: And he used the most basic of techniques of simply calling out her name, and it worked.

MATTINGLY: Right. And he says he doesn't believe luck. He said he was guided by God. In fact, just an hour ago he was talking on "AMERICAN MORNING." He was talking about that conversation he was having with God.

And let's listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KING: I knew he wanted me to go. I prayed and in some cases, when there's water in front, and there's water to the left and water to the right, and the trees and brush and bushes 5, and I said which way to go? And I looked up and he said go that way.

And I'm looking at water. I said, Lord 6, you sure? He said I gotcha. And as soon as I started walking, the ground under the water was solid 7, so again it's only about a foot and a half deep.

And he took care of me all the way there, leading me, directing 8, and told -- then he told me at one point to follow the sun. So I went east until I found her.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: God said "I Gotcha."

WHITFIELD: Gosh. That's extraordinary.

MATTINGLY: And he went right to her. Right to her.

WHITFIELD: I love -- I love her response even on the call, you know, hi, I'm Nadia, I'm the girl who was lost. So she kind of knew that people had been looking for her. At least --

MATTINGLY: Yes.

WHITFIELD: She sounded like it.

MATTINGLY: She sounded so calm.

WHITFIELD: She did.

MATTINGLY: So matter of fact and so pleasant and so friendly. I was listening to the entire 911 tape. At one point, Mr. King offers her some chocolate milk and she goes, yay.

(LAUGHTER)

MATTINGLY: And then it was just like this -- not at all like you would think that this poor little girl who'd been out there with no food and water for almost four days was so pleasant and so ready to go home.