A family in southern Mississippi was relieved to find their 2-year old boy, who had been missing for several hours, sleeping in a truck near their home. They were more gratified to discover that the child’s pet dog was with him the whole time.
Harrison County sheriff's deputies spent hours searching for William Odom of Saucier after he was reported missing around 10 a.m. Tuesday from his home, WLOX reported. The boy was found around 3:30 p.m., asleep in a truck, by another child who was getting off a school bus.
“Every time we found his footprint, we found the dog footprint right beside him. So the dog traveled with him all day," Harrison County Sheriff Troy Peterson told WLOX. "When the little boy was found the dog was still circling the truck and scratching on the truck."
The child exiting the school bus heard the truck's horn beeping, and saw Odom when he walked to the vehicle.
"His uncle came over and forced the window down. And took the kid out and brought him to us," Peterson told WLOX. “[The boy] was inside the truck apparently sleeping. His back, when we got him, he had a bunch of stripes on his back that matched up to the seams in the truck. So we’re thinking he was just in the truck sleeping.”
Peterson said the boy was last seen wearing only a diaper before he went missing, WLOX reported.
Mother of missing child embraces her son after he was found in the woods. pic.twitter.com/U71gclEk03
— Hugh Keeton (@HughKeeton) October 3, 2017