Truck driver Reginald Walton had just crossed into Louisiana from Texas along I-10 when he spotted what looked like a baby doll on the side of the road.
But when he saw the baby move, he immediately called 911.
The trucker stayed on the phone with operators while he stopped the tractor-trailer, at which point he had to walk about a quarter of a mile back to where he had spotted the child.
He recalled,
When I got to him, he was sitting down and as soon as he made visual contact with me, he smiled. And then he stood up, started crying and walked toward me. And once I grabbed his hand, he stopped crying.
Walton said he didn't know that the 1-year-old had been missing for two days, presumably spending most of that time in a ditch alongside the highway while Hurricane Beryl blew through the area.
Tragically, the infant was first discovered to be missing after the body of his 4-year-old brother was found in a lake behind a rest area along I-10 on Monday. When police identified the body, it was determined that the 4-year-old had last been seen with his mother and 1-year-old brother on Saturday.
On Tuesday, the mother was arrested over 300 miles away, in Mississippi, but at the time of her arrest, there was still no trace of the 1-year-old.
The mother, 25-year-old Aaliyah N. Jack, is facing multiple charges, including 2nd-degree murder.
Authorities were preparing to search the lake, assuming that both children had been killed. when they were notified of the trucker's 911 call. Shortly afterward, police were able to identify the 1-year-old as the missing child.
Calcasieu Parish Sherrif Guillory said in a press conference,
We look at this 1-year-old as our miracle baby because he was still alive. This kid spent two days out in the weather on the side of the highway. Thank God that trucker seen him.
The baby is now in the care of Louisiana's Department of Children and Family Services, but aside from a few bug bites, he appeared to be unharmed.
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