Missing Arcadia boy, 3, found alive in woods

ARCADIA, Mo. -- A 3-year-old Southeast Missouri boy missing for more than two days was found alive Wednesday afternoon three miles from his rural home.

Joshua Childers

A volunteer found Joshua Childers in the rugged terrain of the Mark Twain National Forest, Madison County Sheriff David Lewis said. The boy had slipped out of his house more than 50 hours earlier, wearing a T-shirt, sneakers and a pull-up diaper.

Volunteer searcher Donnie Halpin said he saw a couple of dogs along an all-terrain vehicle trail late Wednesday afternoon. Halpin walked over to the dogs and spotted Joshua Childers lying on the ground.

Halpin didn't know if the boy was alive but said, "Hey, Bud."

That's when Joshua turned around and smiled at the 57-year-old construction worker.

Halpin said the boy was wearing only a T-shirt and one tennis shoe. He wrapped the child in his shirt and carried him a half-mile to a home, where authorities picked him up.

Joshua 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 parents would like to thank everyone who has assisted in the search and treatment of Joshua, and they ask that their privacy be protected at this time," said Ed Gast, chief executive officer of Iron County Hospital.

Joshua wandered away about 11:30 a.m. Monday from his parents' home near the small town of Arcadia, about 60 miles northwest of Cape Girardeau. The couple searched for about 45 minutes before calling police, setting off a massive search that lasted through the night and into Tuesday and Wednesday.

So many people wanted to help find the boy that some were held back at the staging area, Lewis said.

"Today we brought in professional rescue people," he said. "We tried to cover everything again and widened the scope."

Sometime after 4 p.m. local time, the boy was found in a hollow, a creek bottom area off Route D, three miles from his home.

"I'm so happy, you can't believe it," Lewis said. "I'm going to go home and take a shower and go to bed."

Rick Stockham, a neighbor of Joshua's grandmother, told KSDK-TV in St. Louis that the woman had been "begging God to see that little boy alive one more time.

"She got her wish," he said.

Stockham described Joshua as a "tough little kid" and resilient. He said conditions were wet and muddy with creek levels that would have been up to the boy's chest.

"The rain was here, the dogs couldn't smell, it's a miracle they found him," he said.

On Monday evening a searcher found a tennis shoe that the boy's parents confirmed he was wearing when he slipped away from home.

Lewis said the shoe was found nearly a mile from the family's mobile home in the forest.

Joshua's father works an overnight shift and was home sleeping late Monday morning. His mother was watching the child but was briefly distracted. That's when the boy got out.