A missing three-year-old boy in Texas was found alive and safe after spending four days alone in the woods.
Christopher Ramirez was found five miles away from his parents’ house, where he disappeared Wednesday night. The toddler was last seen by his family after he chased a neighbor’s dog into the nearby woods around 2 p.m.
At the time, his mother, Araceli Nunez, and grandmother were busy unpacking items from their food truck in the driveway of their home in Plantersville.
The dog returned, but the boy never did, prompting a major search that involved an estimated 150 law enforcement officials from federal state and local agencies.
The groups worked in shifts to search acres of land around the Ramirez’s home. The Homeland Security, Texas Rangers, and FBI also helped with the search.
That’s apart from the other search and rescue teams looking inside homes in the neighborhood, above-ground pools, sheds, surveillance cameras, and an almost-two square mile area of the Foxfire subdivision.
Authorities also searched nearby ponds and used search dogs, helicopters, and drones to look over as much land as possible around the neighborhood.
On Thursday night, the child’s mother told the media that she believes her son had been abducted. However, there was no evidence of foul play.
Thankfully, that wasn’t the case as Christopher was found around 11:45 a.m. on Saturday by a local landowner who has chosen to remain anonymous.
According to Grimes County Sheriff Don Sowell, the kid was “a bit dehydrated as well as hungry and in overall good spirits and healthy.”
“He was in good shape, for the most part. For the conditions being down in the woods … he’ll be the ultimate Army Ranger, Navy SEAL, Air Force when he [grows up], but he’s already passed the first test,” Sowell said.
It’s unclear how exactly the boy survived on his own in the woods or where he had been during those days. It’s also a mystery how he managed to wander five miles away from his home.
Christopher was taken to Texas Children’s Hospital in Woodlands to be evaluated after sharing an emotional reunion with his mother.
The man who found him told Sowell that God told him during a bible study the day before that he would find Christopher if he looked for him, so he searched the dense woods near his home.
While walking his property, he heard a cry and saw the little boy. The landowner took him into his arms and called in authorities.
“The kind and humble citizen that found Christopher was indeed a special and Guardian Angel that was in the right place at the right time. He is a humble and kind man that did not want his name mentioned,” the sheriff said.
“I had several good visits with him and thanked him for being there. He replied that God told him at Bible study yesterday evening to go look for him and he would find him. This morning the man did just that and the rest is a happy ending to this story.”
Tim Miller, the founder and director of Texas EquuSearch, admitted that he had started to lose heart with the search as this was only the second time that they had to look for a child like this in his 21 years with the search-and-rescue organization.
“But God works amazing, I got goosebumps,” he said. “He works amazing. To see him and to hear that loud cry, sheriff, it was just unbelievable.”
We’re so glad that Christopher is back home with his family! Check out the video below to learn more about this rescue story.
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