A Louisiana trucker pulled off the rescue of a lifetime, after spotting a one-year-old missing “miracle baby” crawling along the ditch of a busy highway.
Authorities had been searching for the child for more than a day, after discovering his four-year-old brother dead in a nearby pond in southwest Louisiana on Monday, July 8.
On Tuesday, authorities feared the younger boy was dead, too, and were preparing to search the water in Calcasieu Parish where his older brother’s body was found. But as they got ready to search, a truck driver placed a call to 911.
“As I was going down the highway, I noticed an image to the right over an embankment and I thought maybe it was a doll that someone had thrown out the window,” trucker Reginald Walton, a driver for DHL Supply Chain, told KADN News 15 of his luck.
“But as I was passing by, I saw it move and I said ‘that looked like a baby.’”
Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Gary Guillory told a news conference that the baby was taken to hospital and deemed to be in remarkably good condition, having suffered only a few bug bites.
Breaking news from Canada and around the world
sent to your email, as it happens.
“This kid spent two days out in the weather on the side of the highway,” said Guillory, according to The Associated Press. “Thank God that trucker seen him.”
“We look at this one-year-old as our miracle baby because he was still alive,” Guillory added.
What’s even more incredible is that the baby survived what police believe was at least two days in bad weather, as Hurricane Beryl hammered the area with intermittent heavy rain and high winds.
According to police, the baby and his brother were last seen on Saturday, July 6, with their mother, Aaliyah Jack, 25.
The circumstances surrounding the older boy’s death are not clear, and the sheriff’s office said the investigation into the case in ongoing.
“CPSO detectives are actively working to gather all the information and details surrounding this case and the death of the 4-year-old. We will dedicate all necessary resources to ensure a thorough investigation. Our hearts go out to the family members of these two children,” Guillory said in a news release.
“Detectives are continuing the investigation, and more charges are possible. The coroner will determine cause of death,” the release stated.
The boys’ mother was arrested in Mississippi and charged with failing to report the one-year-old child missing.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
