A missing toddler has been saved after he was discovered curled up in a ditch in the freezing cold. New footage shows the moment the two-year-old boy, who has not been named, was found by police after they deployed heat-seeking vision technology from a helicopter.
Search efforts began on Sunday evening after the young boy was reported missing by his parents. He was last seen watching TV in the living room of the family home in Blackman Township, Michigan around 8.43pm – but when his parents returned only a few minutes later, they found the boy gone and door open. A call was made to emergency services not long later, and two teams of police sniffer dogs, a helicopter, officers from multiple police departments and volunteers “conducted a thorough search” of a nearby woods until he was found three hours later.
In footage from the helicopter, one member of the search team can be heard saying “can’t tell – is it an animal or a child”, before saying a few moments later: “We got him!”. The clip ends with the boy being taken to safety in an officer’s arms.
Police said the boy was spotted in a ditch with the heat-sensitive camera, and officers on the ground were directed to the location.
One officer involved in the rescue said that the boy was discovered wearing only a nappy on a night when temperatures later dropped below freezing – meaning he was lucky to be found when he was.
Michigan State Trooper Brandon Franklin, a tactical flight officer, told Good Morning America: “If no one would have found this child, the outcome would not have been the same most likely. En route, we said, ‘We got to find this baby as soon as possible.’ We have children of our own.”
The toddler was still conscious when he was found, and was taken to hospital before being reunited with his parents.
Blackman-Leoni Department of Public Safety, which was involved in the search operation, said in a statement on Monday: “The child, a 2-year-old Hispanic male, was last seen watching television in the living room around 2043 hours.
Authorities were alerted after the child was reported missing roughly an hour later.
“A coordinated search effort was immediately launched, with multiple resources deployed, including the Blackman-Leoni K-9 unit, Michigan State Police (MSP) K-9 unit, and an MSP helicopter.
Law enforcement officers from several different agencies, along with volunteer community members, conducted a thorough search of the area for nearly two hours.
“At approximately 2333 hours, after the child had been missing for about three hours, MSP Aviation (Trooper 2) located the child near I-94, down in a ditch, curled up, wearing only a diaper. Although the child was cold, he was alert and conscious.
“The child was quickly transported to Henry Ford Jackson Hospital for evaluation and is currently in good condition.
“The Blackman-Leoni Department of Public Safety extends its gratitude to the Michigan State Police, MSP K-9, MSP Aviation, Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, Jackson Fire Department, Jackson Community Ambulance, Child Protective Services, and the community volunteers who assisted in the search effort.
“Without the collective efforts of all these agencies, this incident would have undoubtedly ended in tragedy.”
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