A two-year-old boy who had gone missing yesterday has been found safe and well covered in scratches after surviving a night outside alone.
After an extended search by the local community and emergency services, Joshua Rowland, also known as JJ, was spotted alive and well at around 11am (4pm UK) today by a volunteer, and taken to a hospital for evaluation.
He was reported missing on Thursday around noon and authorities believe he left his home in Brooksville, Florida, while his parent was asleep.
At the time, they said he was last seen by neighbours playing with his dogs in his home's yard.
Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis said the smiling two-year-old was fine, despite being out in the wild over the night.
“He’s definitely gonna have something to tell his kids and grandkids about,” Nienhuis said.
The sheriff praised the local community for volunteering to help find little J.J. and said the vast majority of people in his county are "good-hearted citizens".
“I think a lot of people were praying, and prayer works,” Nienhuis said to a cheering crowd.
On Thursday, authorities alerted the community to take part in the search and gave a description of the child.
They said that when he was last seen, JJ was wearing a grey Batman shirt and dark grey pants.
He is two-feet tall, weighs 35 pounds, and has blonde, curly hair and hazel eyes.
Nearly 60 law enforcement personnel searched for JJ until the search concluded on Thursday evening just after 8.30pm (1.30am in the UK), and an aviation unit continued searching for a few more hours.
The family waited for about an hour before reporting the child missing, while a witness said he saw JJ in the front yard playing with dogs at around 10.40am (3.40pm UK) on Thursday.
The sheriff said then that they have no indication that JJ was abducted or wandered off; they don't know what happened.
The sheriff noted at the time: "There is no indication that he’s been abducted but if you have a family member that’s acting strange, we’re going to check out every lead that comes in until we find JJ, so if anybody is acting weird please give us a call and let us come talk to him or her and see if we can rule that person out as a possible suspect."
Denise Maloney, a spokesperson for the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office had said: "We don’t know if he’s on the move or maybe hunkered down somewhere and is hiding, fell asleep, playing with some animal, we don’t know.
"It was reported that he walked out the door while mom, and he were sleeping. I don’t know if he woke up and just left, not sure."
A statewide missing child alert was issued for JJ on Thursday afternoon.
The area they were searching in is complicated because it's heavily wooded.
The sheriff requested that anyone living in the area check their property.
JJ is a very rambunctious 2-year-old boy who probably acts older than he actually is, so he might have gotten further away than they anticipate, the sheriff had said.
Police did a neighbourhood canvas several times, not only talking to neighbours but also searching homes in the area.
On Friday morning, the sheriff's office posted on Facebook that anyone interested in volunteering for the search should report to the convenience store at the corner of Cobb Road and Fort Dade Avenue anytime after 8.15am (1.15pm in the UK).
Volunteers were asked to bring a valid ID or driver's license as HCSO employees will conduct a brief background check on site.
They were also advised to wear appropriate clothing and footwear for the heavily wooded area and to bring something to stay hydrated.
The authorities had urged anyone who sees JJ to call 911 immediately.
