Heat-Seeking Camera Finds Missing 2-Year-Old Huddled In A Ditch

Children are prone to wander, especially when it’s unsafe to do so. It appears that’s exactly what happened when this 2-year-old boy went missing in Michigan. According to reports, he was last seen inside his home. It was nearly 9 p.m., and he was watching television in the living room. About an hour later, his parents called the police, prompting a rescue mission for the toddler.

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In a press release, local police say that “a coordinated search effort was immediately launched, with multiple resources deployed.” This included an MSP helicopter. Still, nearly three hours later, they had yet to locate the child. Luckily, it was around that time when heat-seeking camera picked up on something noteworthy… see what happened next in the video below.

At first, it was unclear if the heat-seeking camera had picked up on an animal or a human. To be safe, police officers on the ground were sent to check. They were guided to this spot by the flashing lights of the helicopter above. Thankfully, this actually did lead them directly to the toddler.

The little boy was found only in a diaper. He was laying in the fetal position, no doubt trying to keep himself warm in the nearly freezing weather. As distressing as this must have been for the toddler, police say he was “alert and conscious.”

Once the boy was found, he was rushed to a nearby hospital. Here, an evaluation showed that he was, surprisingly, 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,” police share. “Without the collective efforts of all these agencies, this incident would have undoubtedly ended in tragedy.”

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