A six-year-old boy who went missing in rural eastern Kentucky has been found safe after a two-day search involving hundreds of people.
Roman Heilman, who has autism, was last seen on Sunday afternoon near his home in Louisa. He was wearing a green plaid jacket and Crocs when he disappeared.
More than 300 volunteers searched the rugged, heavily wooded area on foot and horseback, supported by Kentucky State Police, the Kentucky National Guard and search-and-rescue teams from West Virginia and Ohio. Helicopters and drones also surveyed the terrain.
Travis Hughes, Lawrence County’s emergency management director, said Heilman was known to play outside and explore the woods. Search teams eventually found a muddy footprint which led them to some of the boy’s clothes, including his jacket, trousers and a nappy.
“We knew this child was without clothes and we knew there was weather moving in, raining,” Mr Hughes said. “So we wanted to put our horseback teams in there with the ground searchers.”
Volunteers were also asked to sing one of Heilman’s favourite songs, “If You’re Happy and You Know It”, in the hope he would emerge from the woods.
On Tuesday morning, about a mile and a half from home, Heilman came out of the undergrowth with his dog. He was naked and covered in scratches, while the dog was believed to have been with him throughout the time he was missing.
“He comes out right behind his dog and that’s when he pointed and said, ‘E-I-E-I O,’ and pointed to the horses,” Mr Hughes said. “And that’s when our team got up to him and wrapped him up in a blanket, gave him something to eat.”
Heilman was recovering from dehydration in hospital on Wednesday.
Mr Hughes later praised the rescue effort on social media, saying so many people had volunteered that officials had to ask some to wait while the resources already assembled were organised.
