There’s a logical explanation for the sudden, mysterious appearance at the site of a car accident in Missouri of a priest who prayed with the teenage victim of the wreck, comforting the youngster and the responders until it became possible to rescue her.

Despite the fact that the police had blocked the highway for three miles in each direction and weren’t letting anyone through and that none of the 80 pictures taken at the scene by the rescuers showed the priest in any of them, there’s an easy explanation for the priest’s presence that we’re all missing, right?

“The fire chief, Raymond Reed, had stepped back and came up to me and said he was concerned because he was out of options. His tools weren’t working and by that time, it was almost an hour and said I don’t know how we’re going to get her out,” Ralls County Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Adair told KHQA.

At this point, Fox4KC reports Lentz asked the rescuers to pray with her. Then the priest appeared – although the highway was blocked for two to three miles and emergency responders were not letting anyone past the roadblocks.

“He came and he asked to anoint the girl in the car,” Adair said. “My first thought was that it would possibly send the wrong message to Katie that maybe we had called a priest and thought she wasn’t going to make it. So I went back and talked to the priest and told him we were worried she would think we’d given up hope. He said, ‘I just want to anoint her’ and so we just let him come up to the scene.”

Witnesses said he anointed Lentz and her rescuers with oil, prayed with them and asked them to remain calm.

The Hannibal fire department then pulled up with fresh equipment and was able to free Lentz. After getting her in the Air Evac helicopter, rescue workers said the priest was nowhere to be found.

Fire Chief Reed said the department took 80 photos of the scene and the priest did not appear in any of them.

A witness who said she and her husband held Lentz’ hand after the accident tells KHQA she remembers the priest well.

“He was dark complected,” she said. “He had an accent, but I’m not sure what nationality. He was probably 5 feet 6 inches maybe. He was not heavy set, but he probably weighed close to 200 pounds. He had dark hair.”

The Diocese of Jefferson City says it has not located the priest involved and does not plan to search for him.