Toddler rescued in woods

ZIP CITY - Sheriff's deputy Joe Shanes said he had no idea what his dog Fox was doing when he jumped from his car early Tuesday and ran across Alabama 17.

Fox sprinted into an overgrown field as emergency crews were searching for a lost 3-year-old boy.

"Everybody was looking around the woods and everywhere else. No one had any ideas which way he went," said Shanes, the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Department's canine officer.

The boy's parents called the sheriff's office about 3:30 a.m. and Shanes arrived with Fox about an hour later.

"When (Fox) got out of the car, he ran behind the car and then started across the road," Shanes said. "I hollered at him, but he just kept going. Then, he just sat down.

"I went over to him to put his leash on, and the little boy was standing there behind a tree. He saw me and said, 'Hey.' "

Shanes said he asked the little boy what he was doing, and he answered looking for his daddy.

"Then he ran to me and grabbed my leg," Shanes said. "I took him across the street to his parents and let paramedics check him out."

Shanes said Fox must have spotted the boy when he was pulling up to the search area, just north of Salem Church of Christ.

"And when I opened the car door, he just took off to check it out and found him," Shanes said.

The boy was not injured. His parents declined to discuss the ordeal when contacted Tuesday afternoon.

Lauderdale County Sheriff Ronnie Willis said emergency personnel from his department and Zip City firefighters had been looking for the boy for about an hour when they called Shanes for assistance.

"Fox is a tracking and drug dog," Willis said. "I'm just glad we were able to find the child when we did."

Deputies said the boy's father told them that he had gotten up and left the house between 3 and 3:30 a.m.. He said the boy and his mother were asleep.

"Apparently, the little boy woke up, and the door didn't close all the way when the daddy left. The little boy went out looking for his daddy," Shanes said.

The boy apparently walked across Alabama 17 and was several feet into the wooded area when he was found.

Willis said he was just glad the child was safe.

"If (Fox) hadn't found the little boy when he did, I hate to think how long he would have been out there before someone finally found him. As it turned out, he was OK, just scared," the sheriff said.

Shanes said the boy was blessed.

"That little boy had an angel with him. He crossed that road (Alabama 17), which is heavily traveled by tractor-trailer trucks no matter what time of day or night it is, and he made it across safely," Shanes said. "And then, we hadn't been there 10 minutes and Fox finds him. It turned out perfect all the way around."

Tom Smith can be reached at 740-5757 or tom.smith@TimesDaily.com.