Hope was fading fast when searchers for Jaylynn Thorpe, the three-year child who went missing overnight in sub-freezing temperatures, found the child sitting on a log in the woods, two puppy dogs at his side.
The good news came around 12:35 p.m. Saturday, culminating a 20-hour search that drew on the efforts of some 250 emergency services personnel and volunteers. Young Jaylynn had wandered off from his babysitter's home near the woods of Buckshoal Road around 4:30 p.m. Friday, and search teams had been unable to find the boy despite combing the woods near the babysitter's home.
Then, suddenly, after thousands of man-hours and a painstaking hunt in a three-and-a-half mile radius around the home, there the child was, "cold and hungry," said Halifax County Sheriff Stanley Noblin, but otherwise fine.
The youngster escaped the incident "without even a sniffle," Noblin said.
Authorities believe the child may have been saved by two puppies who stuck to his side throughout the ordeal. Jaylynn apparently was playing with five puppies at the home of his babysitter, a relative, when he wandered off into the woods with the pups.
Three of the dogs returned at some point, leaving two puppies who were found with the youngster on Saturday.
Jaylynn's uncle, Michael Elliott of South Boston, said the puppies cuddled with Jaylynn to keep him warm through the night. The child also slept under a cover of leaves, further helping to ward off the cold.
"It was a miracle, and I'm glad it came out the best way," he said. "There aren't many kids who could come through that with the temperature like [it was]," said Elliott.
Temperatures fell to 17 degrees during the night, Noblin said, but the youngster told searchers that he had slept that night with his two puppies close to him. "They (the puppies) probably saved his life," the Sheriff said.
Elliott said his little nephew was dehydrated and hungry after the ordeal, but otherwise okay. After being taken to the emergency room Saturday, he told "some people around the ER, 'I'm hungry, I want to eat,'" said Elliott. His request was satisfied with two cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets and a drink from McDonald's, his uncle said.
The child and his mother, Sara Ingram, are doing fine, Elliott said, despite the ordeal.
With the severe conditions the night before, Elliott admitted that uncertainty about Jaylynn's fate crept into his mind.
"Once it got to be midnight, that's when I started I have my doubts that he would make it to the morning," he said.
The report of the missing child reverberated quickly throughout the community, drawing hordes of volunteers and donations of food, drinks and other supplies from individuals and businesses, especially local restaurants.
Emergency personnel converted Grace Baptist Church into a staging area, and several hundred volunteers came out to assist, either directly by joining the search or by providing support to the men and women out in the field.
"It just makes me proud to be a part of a community like this," said Noblin.
"People turned out from this community, as well as from Mecklenburg and Pittsylvania counties and North Carolina, all trying to help find the youngster. We even had a rescue team passing through here from Boston, Massachusetts that helped."
Noblin expressed his deepest appreciation to Grace Baptist and to local restaurants that donated hot food. In addition, Grace Baptist provided hot showers and Halifax Regional Hospital sent bottled water. The local Red Cross chapter also pitched in with volunteers. "It was just a great combined effort with the outpouring of so many who wanted to help," said Noblin.
Dave Cline, associate pastor at Grace Baptist Church, said there was never any hesitation about the church helping in any way it could. Some of the authorities expressed concern that the search could continue through Sunday, possibly disrupting church services, "but that didn't bother us at all," said Cline.
"I don't know of many things that makes the emotions go wild like a child who is missing," said Cline. "To be able to help someone is one of the highest callings in life."
Cline went to the church around 6 o'clock Friday and stayed there to help out until Jaylynn's rescuers returned with the child early Saturday afternoon. Cline described a scene of joy and excitement when it was announced that Jaylynn was found — followed by apprehension when his condition wasn't immediately made known.
"The lady from the command post came in and said 'secure the net' — that's the phrase she used," said Cline. "Then somebody jumped up from another table and said, 'that means they found him!'" said Cline. Some ten minutes later, the crowd learned that the child was safe and sound.
"I think it was a subdued celebration at first," said Cline. "Just because they found him, that doesn't mean they found him alive. You just didn't know how excited to get."
When Noblin made the announcement that Jaylynn was okay, "that was when everyone was really happy. It's like a miracle I guess. Being out there that long and it being really cold," Cline said.
The searchers brought the child to a waiting ambulance where Cline saw him sitting and talking to EMTs. "From the look on his face, it was like, 'Why are all of you looking at me?' It was the reaction of a typical kid — 'why are there 30 or 40 cameras around me?'" said Cline.
The search began after the Sheriff's Department got a call at 4:50 p.m. on Friday afternoon, saying the youngster had strayed from the babysitter's home.
"We responded right away," Noblin said. In all, some 125 officers and volunteers searched the area all night long. In the morning they were joined by over 100 more volunteers.
"We never left until the boy was found on Saturday and checked out by rescue personnel before being taken to the local emergency room for a more thorough check-up."
Noblin said they mapped out a grid of the area within a three and a half mile circle of the area with 15-20 people in each group fanning out in the grid. "We earlier came very close to the spot where he was found, but we did not see him until later."
Noblin extended a hearty thanks to all who helped in the rescue mission and said it seems