Missouri toddler found alive after 2 days in woods

[Deberg_1990]

Incredible. This brought a tear to my eye.






http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090507/ap_on_re_us/us_missouri_child_found



ARCADIA, Mo. – Thirsty, dirty and tired after spending two days and nights barely clothed in the wet, chilly woods of Mark Twain National Forest, 3-year-old Joshua Childers was ready to go home.

The boy was lying on the ground of a hollow near a creek bottom Wednesday afternoon when a volunteer searcher spied his bare bottom.

"Hey, bud!" called out Donnie Halpin, a 57-year-old construction worker from nearby Fredericktown, who wasn't sure whether the grimy figure was even alive.

But Joshua sat right up and grinned at his rescuer.

"You ready to go home?" Halpin asked.

"Yeah," said Joshua.

The boy was wet and only wearing a T-shirt and one tennis shoe. Halpin called 911, then wrapped the child in his shirt, scooped him up and carried him about a half-mile to a house.

"He hung on to me pretty tight," said Halpin, who didn't have any water for the child but gave him some candy. "Outside of a few scratches, he was in really good shape."

Joshua had slipped out of his family's mobile home near Arcadia in rural southeast Missouri around 11:30 a.m. Monday, while his father slept and his mother talked on the phone.

Terry Schulte, the boy's grandmother, told KSDK-TV that Joshua told her he was on his way to visit her. She lives about five miles from his home, and he was found covered in ticks about a half-mile away. Somewhere along the way he lost his pull-up diaper and one of his sneakers, which searchers found near a pond Monday.

Halpin discovered Joshua around 4 p.m. Wednesday while walking along an all-terrain vehicle trail about three miles from the boy's home, after first spotting some stray dogs sniffing at something.

"I'm going to put him up for the Grizzy Adams Award, send him bear-hunting with a stick," his overjoyed father, Adam Childers, told reporters, marveling at his son's survival skills.

"It's undescribable how grateful we are," Childers said. "I mean, you doubt if God's actually with you for awhile, and then something like this happens, and you know he's there."

Madison County Sheriff David Lewis said searchers had been growing increasingly pessimistic about their chances of finding Joshua alive. He figured three days was about the limit for the boy's survival in the wild without food and water.

"It's a miracle," Lewis said. "I'm so happy, you can't believe it."

Hundreds of volunteers from as far away as St. Louis, 100 miles to the northeast, came to help in the search. So did professional search and rescue crews from dozens of agencies. The Missouri State Highway Patrol brought in planes. The state Water Patrol brought in divers and sonar. Dozens of dogs, horses, ATVs and even donkeys scattered in the miles around the tiny home that sits along the wild, rocky terrain of the Mark Twain National Forest.

The area is home to bears, mountain lions and snakes. Heavy rain Tuesday night and Wednesday morning swelled creeks in the area.

"I don't know how he did it," Adam Childers said. "I don't know grown men that could do it. But all I can say is he's a tough little bugger."

Doctors have told him that his son is a little dehydrated but otherwise fine, Childers said. The child was evaluated and listed in fair condition, first at Iron County Hospital and later at Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Crystal City, where he was transferred because it has a larger pediatric unit.

The boy has been asking for milk and hot dogs since his rescue, Childers said.

[crazycoffey]

three year old alone for two nights in the woods, rain and cold, lost his shoe. I'm happy, don't get me wrong, but I smell foul play.....

[tomahawk kid]

Seems like a miracle at the very least.

Really surprised something in those woods didn't get ahold of him for after a day or 2.

[crazycoffey]

Seems like a miracle at the very least.

Really surprised something in those woods didn't get ahold of him for after a day or 2.


Shit, it was pretty freakin cold a couple nights ago, he lost his shoe in the creek, so - wet, young, cold, no shoe = I'm thinking hypothermia

[Iowanian]

Its nice to hear a good outcome on a story like this once in a while.

I've had dreams about my girls wondering into the woods and getting lost and looking for them....I can't imagine a parent going through that.

[KCinNY]

Joshua had slipped out of his family's mobile home near Arcadia in rural southeast Missouri around 11:30 a.m. Monday, while his father slept and his mother talked on the phone.

Nice parenting.

[J Diddy]

Trust me, Arcadia is right by here, and if you've ever been there you fully understand the type of parents these people were.

[Fish]

Nice parenting.

It's cool.... God was apparently babysitting.....

"I mean, you doubt if God's actually with you for awhile, and then something like this happens, and you know he's there."

Why God didn't wake Dad of the Year before noon, or manage to get Mom off the phone, we'll never know....

[FAX]

Two weeks later, Joshua was found naked and half dazed in a Joplin Sam's Club. According to his parents, Joshua had wandered away from them several days earlier while they were shopping at a nearby Home Depot. "We couldn't be happier that Joshua is back with us," his mother told reporters. "Our thanks go out to all the Sam's Club employees for their help in bringing Joshua back."

FAX

[Iowanian]

I don't know anything about the family, but maybe the guy worked nights? I don't work nights and slip a nap in once in a while.


I keep pretty close tabs on my kids, and I can tell you if you turn away for a second, they can be into something, or the other day, out the door and down playing with the neighbor kids before you can finish taking a leak.

Maybe it was parenting....maybe it was a quick, quiet, adventurous kid.

[Jenson71]

That's awesome :clap:

[Cannibal]

It's cool.... God was apparently babysitting.....



Why God didn't wake Dad of the Year before noon, or manage to get Mom off the phone, we'll never know....

ROFL You are correct sir.

[FAX]

One month later, an employee for Waste Management, Inc. found Joshua wearing nothing but a sock and a LaserQuest cap sitting in a landfill and eating rotten garbage. "He looked hungry and dehydrated, so I gave him some water," the employee stated. "The little fella didn't appear to be injured, though."

Joshua's parents were overjoyed to be reunited with their son, "We had taken an old sofa to the dump and he must have just taken off," Joshua's father said. "Praise God that he's been returned to us."

FAX

[Archie Bunker]

:LOL:

[FAX]

Two months later, St. Louis Zoo officials found a toddler matching Joshua's description lying completely nude in a feed bin. Officials were able to confirm Joshua's identity within hours and he was immediately returned to his parents.

"Okay. Thanks," said Joshua's mother. "Appreciate it. I guess he just took off while we weren't looking, okay?"

FAX

[penguinz]

The area is home to bears, mountain lions and snakes. MO is just overrun with bears and mountain lions. :rolleyes:

[tomahawk kid]

Trust me, Arcadia is right by here, and if you've ever been there you fully understand the type of parents these people were.

Like the Ingals from "Little House on the Prarie"?

[FAX]

Three months later, Joshua was found confused, disoriented, and only partially clothed wandering aimlessly through downtown traffic in Springfield. A passing motorist notified police who immediately returned the child to his parents.

"Damn ... I mean ... thanks," said Joshua's father. "... Damn thanks is what I meant there ... you know ... for bringing Joshua back home where he belongs and all. Damn thanks."

FAX

[J Diddy]

Like the Ingals from "Little House on the Prarie"?

More like Beavis and Butthead do America.

[Duck Dog]

"When asked by the rescuers if he had lost one of his shoes, Joshua replied; "Nope, found one".

It's nice to be able to joke around about a news story involving a little kid for a change. Tough little SOB.

[Chiefnj2]

Nice parenting.

Dad works nights.

[Lono]

I'm not sure if the parents suck or not, but kids are kids. My 2 yr old son got up in the middle of the night, decided he wanted his grandma who lives about 200 yards away from us. We were building on to our house and had a door up between the old part and the new part with a drop down latch to keep it shut. He got a chair and pushed it up to the door unlatched it and then jumped off the back of the new part which was about 8ft. He is only 2 yrs old mind you and it was pitch dark. Amazingly he passed right by the swimming pool, which was his favorite place in the whole world, next to Grandma's I guess. He walked down the driveway in the dark crying to their house where my wife's dad found him sitting in the road crying at 5 in the morning when he woke up for work. We live right smack dab in the middle of the Mark Twain forest in SW Mo. We love our kids and watch them every second when they go outside to play. We changed the locks on the doors and immediately put up a fence around the pool the next day. My point is, kids are crazy sometimes and God is good.

[Mile High Mania]

It's a great ending to the story, for sure... and it's unfortunate that some are too quick to judge the parents on this one. Sure, they could totally be at fault, but you really shouldn't stereotype the parents in a situation like this until you know all the facts.

I have 3 kids... the older 2 (7 and 5 years old) never gave us concerns at a young age or now about leaving the house like this kid did. But, my youngest is almost 3 and even though we lock all the doors, windows, etc... he's a very resourceful kid and I always have visions of him doing what he needs to do get get outside and play.

[tboss27]

Three months later, Joshua was found confused, disoriented, and only partially clothed wandering aimlessly through downtown traffic in Springfield. A passing motorist notified police who immediately returned the child to his parents.

"Damn ... I mean ... thanks," said Joshua's father. "... Damn thanks is what I meant there ... you know ... for bringing Joshua back home where he belongs and all. Damn thanks."

FAX

LMAO

[cookster50]

Nice parenting.

You must not be a parent. Tell me you always keep an eye on your kids if you are..... go ahead, lie to me.

[Chiefnj2]

Dad works nights, so he was sleeping in the day. Mom was on the phone. That's not bad parenting. Unfortunate things happen quickly. Luckily this story had a happy ending.

[rad]

Three months later, Joshua was found confused, disoriented, and only partially clothed wandering aimlessly through downtown traffic in Springfield. A passing motorist notified police who immediately returned the child to his parents.

"Damn ... I mean ... thanks," said Joshua's father. "... Damn thanks is what I meant there ... you know ... for bringing Joshua back home where he belongs and all. Damn thanks."

FAX

LMAO

[Pitt Gorilla]

Dad works nights, so he was sleeping in the day. Mom was on the phone. That's not bad parenting. Unfortunate things happen quickly. Luckily this story had a happy ending.How does being on the phone prevent one from keeping track of their kids?

[BigVE]

Bad parenting? Maybe, but to me this is just one of those unfortunate "things" that happens sometimes when you have little kids. You literally need to watch some kids like a hawk. We "rescued" our neighbor's 2yr. old kid twice last winter...he had somehow escaped the house and was walking around outside in the snow in nothing but a diaper. Things happen fast with kids and hopefully you help offset the bad things or make it so they dont turn tragic. Either way these parents got lucky.

[bogey]

How does being on the phone prevent one from keeping track of their kids?

She had the door locked in the bathroom having phone sex? Or, their phone is in one room and the kid was playing in another.

[Ultra Peanut]

I AM IN THE FOREST

CAN YOU FIND ME?

[Pablo]

I AM IN THE FOREST

CAN YOU FIND ME?Most intense game of hide and seek ever.

[Pablo]

Trust me, Arcadia is right by here, and if you've ever been there you fully understand the type of parents these people were.O rly?

I suppose it's fun to generalize people's ability to parent based on their residence.

[Dante84]

It's cool.... God was apparently babysitting.....



Why God didn't wake Dad of the Year before noon, or manage to get Mom off the phone, we'll never know....

I will tell you why he didn't wake Dad or tell Mom to hang up.... Because when you believe in a do-it-all linebacker from Wake, you don't have to worry about those things.

He got this.

[Dante84]

Nice to know a good ole white toddler is going to live to pass on its genes.

?

[Pablo]

Nice to know a good ole white toddler is going to live to pass on its genes.Please be Marlboro Chief, please be Marlboro Chief....

[SAUTO]

Please be Marlboro Chief, please be Marlboro Chief....

why?

[Pablo]

why?
Why not?

[SAUTO]

Why not?

ROFL fair enough, i just hate seeing racist shit. anything is better than that

[Deberg_1990]

Follow up story for all the "Jump to conclusion'rs" out there. Dad worked nights.

Mom got distracted on the phone. Could have happened to anyone.






http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/1183383.html


Little Joshua Childers survived chilly nights, ponds and creeks, hills and boulders, ticks, bears, mountain lions and snakes in his two days of wandering the Missouri woods.

His father calls his 3-year-old a "tough little bugger" for making it out alive Wednesday. Cody Lundin, who runs a survivalist skills school in Arizona, says the boy's tender age might actually have worked in his favor.

"Little kids don't have any qualms about doing weird stuff," Lundin said. "He probably didn't have any problem burrowing into some leaves or using whatever was around him to keep warm. What hampers a lot of adults is they don't want to get dirty or they're afraid of bugs. Not a little kid."

Joshua, who was wearing just a T-shirt, sneakers and a pull-up diaper, unbolted a lock on the back door of his family's mobile home on Monday and walked away. He survived for 52 hours alone in the untamed woods of Missouri's Mark Twain National Forest before a searcher spotted him.

His father, Adam Childers, turned down interview requests on Thursday but spoke briefly to reporters after the child was found.

"I don't know how he did it," Childers said. "I don't know grown men that could do it. But all I can say is he's a tough little bugger."

Experts agreed the biggest risk the boy faced was hypothermia. Temperatures dipped into the 40s, and heavy rain blanketed southern Missouri Tuesday night. When volunteer Donnie Halpin found Joshua, he was lying on the ground, soaking wet, splattered with mud, his bare bottom sticking out of the ground.

"Hey, bud!" Halpin called out, unsure the grimy boy was alive.

Joshua sat up and grinned.

"You ready to go home?" Halpin asked.

"Yeah," said Joshua.

Once someone gets wet, temperatures in the 40s are dangerous, said Dr. Robert Kennedy, an emergency room physician at St. Louis Children's Hospital.

"Certainly there have been black bears and mountain lions in that area, but the cold was more dangerous to him," he said.

Madison County Sheriff David Lewis said the parents did nothing wrong and there is no criminal investigation. Adam Childers works an overnight shift and was sleeping at home Monday morning. The child's mother was watching him, but was briefly distracted by a phone call.

"It can happen to anyone," Lewis said.

Mary Jane Savage, 60, was in her home when she heard Halpin yelling out that he had found the boy alive. She brought Joshua into the kitchen, put him in the sink to wash off the mud and dirt, then wrapped him in a blanket and asked him if he wanted anything to eat or drink. He wanted milk.

Savage asked, "My goodness, Joshua, what have you been doing?"

"I took a hike," he told her.

"I said, 'You sure did.'"

[Chiefnj2]

How does being on the phone prevent one from keeping track of their kids?

Do you have kids? Do you follow them from room to room to room and keep an eye on them 100% of the time? When you need to relieve yourself, do you bring the toddlers into the can with you?

[Fish]

From the level of defense these parents are receiving in this thread, losing your 3 yr old for 2 days must be a pretty common thing.

[Mile High Mania]

From the level of defense these parents are receiving in this thread, losing your 3 yr old for 2 days must be a pretty common thing.

One day, if you're lucky enough to have kids... you'll understand how things can go from normal to insane in a matter of minutes. I've never experienced anything close to this, but young kids need to watched very closely... they like to explore and get into things.

[Deberg_1990]

From the level of defense these parents are receiving in this thread, losing your 3 yr old for 2 days must be a pretty common thing.

I lost my daughter when she was 2 inside a Kohls dept. store for about 15 minutes. Both my wife and I were watching her and she still managed to sneek off.

Fortunately, she was inside a self contained store and not next to a forest like this kid.

Kids can do some incredible things.

[Fish]

One day, if you're lucky enough to have kids... you'll understand how things can go from normal to insane in a matter of minutes. I've never experienced anything close to this, but young kids need to watched very closely... they like to explore and get into things.

I have a 4 year old. Thanks. You don't have to bother with the "When you have kids, you'll understand" spiel...

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/6606/childleashwoman52648635.jpg

[Mile High Mania]

I have a 4 year old. Thanks. You don't have to bother with the "When you have kids, you'll understand" spiel...


Based on your comment, didn't sound like you've experienced anything with kids...

[Iowanian]

From the level of defense these parents are receiving in this thread, losing your 3 yr old for 2 days must be a pretty common thing.

The other day, I was on the front porch talking to a local police officer, and during that conversation, my 3 year old unlocked and went out the back door and ran down to the neighbor's house to play because she heard their girls laughing.


Its nice of you to be such a perfect parent and example of human perfection, but it literally only takes a second to change your entire day with little kids.


Everything is fine and quiet and blam...your 2 year old nephew donkey kicks his leg through a window.....a toddler falls face first into a table.....you go to take a leak, a kid sneaks out to the back yard. It happens that fast.

[Kerberos]

Trust me, Arcadia is right by here, and if you've ever been there you fully understand the type of parents these people were.

O rly?

I suppose it's fun to generalize people's ability to parent based on their residence.

Well that is where JOAN is from right?

[MOhillbilly]

The other day, I was on the front porch talking to a local police officer, and during that conversation, my 3 year old unlocked and went out the back door and ran down to the neighbor's house to play because she heard their girls laughing.


Its nice of you to be such a perfect parent and example of human perfection, but it literally only takes a second to change your entire day with little kids.


Everything is fine and quiet and blam...your 2 year old nephew donkey kicks his leg through a window.....a toddler falls face first into a table.....you go to take a leak, a kid sneaks out to the back yard. It happens that fast.


that aint no shit, man my parents couldnt keep me under there thumb.

[Mile High Mania]

The other day, I was on the front porch talking to a local police officer, and during that conversation, my 3 year old unlocked and went out the back door and ran down to the neighbor's house to play because she heard their girls laughing.


Its nice of you to be such a perfect parent and example of human perfection, but it literally only takes a second to change your entire day with little kids.


Everything is fine and quiet and blam...your 2 year old nephew donkey kicks his leg through a window.....a toddler falls face first into a table.....you go to take a leak, a kid sneaks out to the back yard. It happens that fast.

Maybe the guy uses shock collars and invisible fences... I dunno.

[Iowanian]

When I was a kid, even at 2-3 years old, if I went to the sand pile, or playing in the yard/barn, my folks assumed I was fine. Same for my brothers. Dad might be working on machinery or with the cows/pigs or mom might be in the garden or something else where they could check on us, but we had room to roam.

Once in a while, I can remember being distracted by something that would just drag me off on an adventure. It usually ended with a "boost" to remind us not to run off.

At least where I lived, they didn't have to worry about some pervert snatching us up if we wondered off a little bit.

[crazycoffey]

I agree that things can happen fast, but in most cases you notice it before they get 4 miles away, that's alittle obscene in the "it happened when I turned my back" spiel, to say the least. But I'm not bashing the parents that much in this whole thing. My biggest thought is something doesn't add up right in this whole thing.

I hope I'm wrong, but in 4 months if we hear of a continuation to this story that involves a mad ex, weird neighbor, or creepy stranger - I won't be surprised.

[Fish]

I agree that things can happen fast, but in most cases you notice it before they get 4 miles away, that's alittle obscene in the "it happened when I turned my back" spiel, to say the least. But I'm not bashing the parents that much in this whole thing. My biggest thought is something doesn't add up right in this whole thing.

I hope I'm wrong, but in 4 months if we hear of a continuation to this story that involves a mad ex, weird neighbor, or creepy stranger - I won't be surprised.

You dummy. It happens. You must either be totally ignorant of children or a perfect parent know-it-all. I mean one second you're on the phone, and the next, blam.. your child is 4 miles away.

[crazycoffey]

You dummy. It happens. You must either be totally ignorant of children or a perfect parent know-it-all. I mean one second you're on the phone, and the next, blam.. your child is 4 miles away.

It's Okaaaaay, kids grow on trees anyway.....

[Otter]

that aint no shit, man my parents couldnt keep me under there thumb.

Same here. I have 5 brothers and sisters and both my parents say I'm solely responsible for 50% of both their gray hairs. I was out shooting the old man last weekend and he was telling me all kinds of stories about the shit I would get into.

Getting locked in refrigerators that the store was installing (freezer type where you can't just push to open from inside) when the movers were on lunch break, sticking a firecracker in a barrel that had gas fumes and it blew up burnt my eyebrows off and 2nd degree burns everywhere, then I started with girls and fighting.

Oye, I wouldn't have wanted to raise me.

To those saying things can't go wrong quick. Be glad you still have the luxury sit up on your high horse and say that, you're probably going to be eating those words someday.

[MOhillbilly]

Same here. I have 5 brothers and sisters and both my parents say I'm solely responsible for 50% of both their gray hairs. I was out shooting the other day with my old man and he was telling me all kinds of stories about the shit I would get into.

Getting locked in refrigerators that the store was installing (freezer type where you can't just push to open from inside) when the movers were on lunch break, sticking a firecracker in a barrel that had gas fumes and it blew up burnt my eyebrows off and 2nd degree burns everywhere, then I started with girls and fighting.

Oye, I wouldn't have wanted raise me.

To those saying things can't go wrong quick. Be glad you still have the luxury sit up on your high horse and say that, you're probably going to be eating those words someday.

never trust a goody-goody.

[RJ]

You might remember the boy's mom, she was once known as Baby Jessica.

[Hydrae]

Same here. I have 5 brothers and sisters and both my parents say I'm solely responsible for 50% of both their gray hairs. I was out shooting the old man last weekend and he was telling me all kinds of stories about the shit I would get into.

Getting locked in refrigerators that the store was installing (freezer type where you can't just push to open from inside) when the movers were on lunch break, sticking a firecracker in a barrel that had gas fumes and it blew up burnt my eyebrows off and 2nd degree burns everywhere, then I started with girls and fighting.

Oye, I wouldn't have wanted to raise me.

To those saying things can't go wrong quick. Be glad you still have the luxury sit up on your high horse and say that, you're probably going to be eating those words someday.


Patricide! :eek:

[Otter]

Patricide! :eek:

Haha, whoops. If one of us hasn't shot the other by now were pretty safe these days.

:D