EUREKA COUNTY, Nev. — An urgent search for a missing woman from St. George and her three children ended peacefully on Tuesday with the help of the Nevada State Police and a quick-responding dispatcher.

“I approach my job with great passion,” explains dispatcher Clara Bundy.

As communications director for the Eureka County Sheriff’s Office, Bundy served as a dispatcher for 16 years.

“It means I get to help people every day,” she said, “so that’s pretty awesome.”

On Tuesday, Bundy received a call she wasn’t expecting.

Brittney Etta Deal and her three children were reported missing in St. George and are believed to be with David Gene Remley, a man who had previously been ordered to stay away from the family.

“I got a call from the Nevada Highway Patrol and they gave me information on a possible kidnapping suspect and said we needed to look for a specific vehicle,” Bundy recalled.

Nevada Highway Patrol officers notified the Eureka County Sheriff’s Office that a cell tower in their area had been transmitting a beep.

“The data was about an hour and a half old,” Bundy said, “so I contacted the St. George Police Department to get more information and the phone number so we could get new pings.”

Bundy then contacted the phone company to obtain new location data and contacted several counties where the phone had originally beeped to notify authorities of the situation. One of these was Humboldt County, where the family was found unharmed and the suspect was taken into custody – all thanks to quick work and effective communication.

“Nobody told me, ‘Hey, get a second ping,'” she said Wednesday. “It was my training and experience from my 16 years telling me, ‘Hey, you need to gather more information.'”

Bundy hopes that more people now understand the important role of dispatchers.

“We are the first link in the chain of public safety and sometimes it seems like the operations center is not appreciated or valued enough, even though we do a lot behind the scenes,” she said.

With the family safe, Bundy was able to reflect on her role in what was a happy ending for a mother and her children.

“I feel like I hope I can do my part and get help there, if I can help at all.”