Authorities Find 'Miracle Baby' Crawling Along Louisiana Highway Days After 4-Year-Old Brother Was Discovered Dead
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.
A Louisiana sheriff says a 1-year-old “miracle baby” survived two days of sometimes stormy weather before a truck driver spotted him crawling along a roadside the day after his 4-year-old brother was found dead and his mother was arrested in Mississippi.
Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Gary “Stitch” Guillory said the baby had numerous bug bites but otherwise appeared to be in good condition.
Autopsy reports were pending on the 4-year-old who was found July 8, Guillory said during a news conference the following day in Lake Charles, about 200 miles west of New Orleans.
The body had been found in a lake behind an Interstate 10 welcome center near the Texas state line.
Authorities investigating the 4-year-old’s death learned that he had last been seen July 6 with his mother, Aaliyah Jack, 25, of Lake Charles, and the 1-year-old.
Fearing the 1-year-old was dead, authorities prepared to search the water where the dead child was found. Then a truck driver called 911 after spotting the baby.
“We look at this 1-year-old as our miracle baby, because he was still alive,” a visibly moved Guillory said.
Hurricane Beryl had struck east Texas earlier, and the search for the child played out amid bands of intermittent, heavy rain and high wind gusts.
“This kid spent two days out in the weather on the side of the highway,” Guillory said.
A 1-year-old baby survived two days in a ditch near the Louisiana-Texas state line and was found alive just miles from where his 4-year-old brother was found dead the day before. The children’s mother has been arrested. https://t.co/Yx9a7eDi5E
— FOX 8 New Orleans (@FOX8NOLA) July 9, 2024
“Thank God that trucker seen him.”
Jack was arrested July 8 in Meridian, Mississippi, more than 350 miles from where her children were found.
She was to be extradited to Louisiana, where she faced a charge of failure to report a missing child. A Louisiana judge had set bond at $300,000, Guillory said.
Kayla Vincent, a spokeswoman for the sheriff, said no other charges were immediately pending as of July 10.
Online booking records were not immediately available. It was unclear whether Jack had an attorney who could comment on her behalf.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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