This is the moment rescuers on horseback come back from a freezing mountain range with a very special passenger.
Roman Heilman, 6, was wrapped in a bright orange emergency blanket and being held by a relative three days after vanishing from his home in Louisa, Kentucky.
His hero volunteers who found him hiding in the dense woodland told reporters the non-verbal autistic boy was ‘tougher than pig iron’.
Another woman laughs with joy, saying: ‘You are going to be famous baby.’
A radio transmission reveals the moment horseback volunteers found the boy. ‘Tower be advised we have found the missing child and he is alive’, a rescuer broadcasts back. ‘We have located the child.’
Police say Roman is currently being evaluated by paramedics. Additional details are expected after his medical evaluation.
The child is thought to have walked away from his parents living on Tadpole Road around 4pm Sunday.
Hundreds of people rallied to help police search the thick forests and swollen river banks in the area.
Erin Evans, a volunteer and retired teacher, said the community response has extended beyond those physically taking part in the search, with community members dropping off supplies for search crews.
‘Some people have driven by and just dropped off food, water, flashlights, ponchos,’ Evans said.
‘So I’m just so proud of our community for coming out. That’s what we do in Lawrence County, and this whole area.’
Evans said she joined the effort because, as a grandparent, she knows she would want the same support if one of her grandchildren went missing.
‘It doesn’t matter who it is. Everybody is going to come out and do something,’ Evans said.
‘We’re all gonna do this no matter who it is and what the situation is.’
Searchers on Monday found a diaper, pants and jacket that the boy was wearing when he went missing Sunday. Search teams with drones and a helicopter had been dispatched, he said.
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