HULL, Iowa - Officials credit a text-messaging alert system with helping locate a missing 5-year-old girl in Hull.

According to a Sioux County Sheriff's Office statement, the child's mother called authorities at 3:13 p.m. Wednesday after her daughter did not return home from school at her normal time.

Authorities issued a Nixle report, which sent a text message containing details about the missing child to subscribers.

According to the statement, Trevor Schelling, 18, used information from a Nixle report to identify the child, who he found 30 minutes later about a half mile from her house. The Sioux Center, Iowa, teen called 911 to report the child's location and police were able to reunite her safely with her parents.

Police say the child had simply gotten her directions mixed up.

The Sioux County Sheriff's Office uses the system to send out alerts about real-time incidents it feels the public should be aware of or situations where it is requesting the public's help.

Sioux County residents can sign up for the service by following a link found on the Sioux County Sheriff's Office web site, ww.siouxcountysheriff.com.