Boy With Downs Syndrome Lost Overnight, Snuggled With Four Puppies To Keep Warm
Kyle Camp, a boy with Downs Syndrome, was lost in the woods overnight in Alabama earlier this week. Search crews spent 18 hours looking for the lost boy, who got wet and chilled after wandering into a creek. The clever young man found four furry pals to help him keep warm throughout the night. Rescuers believe the puppies Camp encountered after going missing helped keep the boy safe from exposure, during what must have been a very frightening ordeal.
Sheriff’s deputies, an Alabama State Trooper helicopter, and at least 150 volunteers, combed the nearby wooded area when Kyle went missing. The boy was reportedly watching television before he went missing. The family searched for the child for three hours and then requested help as darkness loomed.
James Swinney found Kyle approximately 200 yards from the boy’s home, according to WHNT. The child was shoeless and cuddling the four puppies when Swinney came to his aid. The search volunteer had this to say about the discovering the missing Downs Syndrome boy, during an interview with WAFF:
“I heard dogs barking again and followed down there and started hollering for the puppies and I hollered for him and he hollered back. He was in a creek about a half a mile over the ridge. The main thing was getting him to his dad. That’s where I wanted to get him to was his dad. When I found him I asked him if he was alright and he said yeah, he said he just wanted to go home.”
The Camp family was understandably overjoyed at getting Kyle home with only minor scrapes and bruises. Chris Bailey, the missing Alabama boy’s older brother, thanked the volunteers profusely, noting how wonderful it was that community could come together so quickly and help with the rescue.
