After several hours spent searching the Cedar River for what witnesses said was a young child who fell in the river, police returned with the best news possible: It turns out there was never a child in the river in the first place.

Police and rescue agencies from Renton, King County and nearly a dozen surrounding around responded at around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday to reports of a woman and child seen in the Cedar River.

Rescuers pulled the woman from the water and took her to a local hospital for treatment.

But witnesses reported to police that they saw a child with the woman so rescue efforts ramped up as emergency responders used boats and waded into the cold, rushing river in an attempt to find the child.

After several hours, the focus had shifted from rescue to recovery.

But just after noon, Sheriff’s Department Spokesperson Sgt. DB gates said they had confirmed with the woman that there was never a child with her and the search was happily called off.

“It’s the best scenario,” Gates said.

Gates said the woman was walking her dog near the river when the dog somehow ended up in the water. It was not clear if the dog jumped or fell, but the woman went near the bank to get her dog and ended up in the water herself.

Witnesses saw her clinging to vegetation on the side of the river and called for help. Rescuers believe she was in the water, which is presently near 40 degrees, for about 30 minutes. She was conscious when pulled out, but was unable to give detectives the full story at the time.

Gates said the report of the child in the water came from confusion among witnesses. She described the woman as a “very small female” and said some witnesses may have thought she was a child, leading to them telling officers that even after an adult woman was pulled free, there was still a child in the water.

Gates said that after 30 minutes in the river, hypothermia could have begun to set in, making it difficult for the woman to give the full story to detectives until she warmed up some. She is expected to make a full recovery.

Gates said though there was some risk to rescuers who were searching for the child, nobody wanted to call off a search if there was even “the slimmest chance a child was in the river.”

Gates said the Cedar River is presently running about three times faster than usual and is full due to rains as well as cold.