Too often we fear the worst when the news breaks across the transom that a child has gone missing.
But a recent story of how a baby defied a potentially tragic end reinforces the motto: Don’t stop looking.
Deschutes County Police recently undertook a frantic manhunt for missing one-year-old Bradley Michael Thomas. Law enforcement combed through the deep woods of Bend, Oregon, last week after a call came in about a missing young boy.
The search party looked far and wide for hours.
Finally a sheriff’s sergeant and Detective Doug Jackson made what the latter called a “needle-in-a-haystack discovery.”
They found the naked child sleeping face down in a pile of dirt and pine cones.
Detective Jackson explained to WMUR he found the child by following the footsteps of the baby’s father, Brandon M. Blouin. The man reported the child missing after taking the boy to look for a woman he’d apparently been staying with in the woods.
“I don’t think we could’ve gotten a much bigger win than this,” Detective Jackson told WMUR. “When you have a needle-in-a-haystack situation like this, it could go a number of a different ways. It was very much a team effort, and I’m just thankful that we found the kiddo.”
Authorities believe Blouin was under the influence of a controlled substance, reportedly methamphetamine, when the boy was lost.
https://www.facebook.com/DeschutesCountySheriff/posts/1922860251338365″
The Deschutes Sheriff’s Office is now calling for donations to help care for baby Bradley.
The police believe that the child was injured while in Blouin’s custody. As the Deschutes Sheriff’s Office reported, Brandon Blouin was arrested and charged with criminal mistreatment, child neglect, endangering the welfare of a minor, and assault.
The baby’s not yet fully out of the woods.
Although one would like to say “all’s well that ends well” after the miraculous discovery of the child, it appears the baby is not completely out of the woods. If his parents are indeed addicted to drugs, then he faces a struggle not only for his life — but also in leading a good one.
Kyle Becker is a content writer and producer with LifeZette. Follow him on Twitter.
(photo credit, homepage and article images: Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Oregon)
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