Missing 2-Year-Old Found Alive; Father Still Missing
Follow CBSDFW.COM: Facebook | Twitter
DENTON COUNTY (CBSDFW.COM) - The information first released said two boaters had gone missing along Denton Creek on Monday. Today, as the search resumed, it is now known that one of those missing was a toddler.
Shortly after rescuers set out again to look for the missing this morning, just above Lake Grapevine, the Texas Game Warden reported that one of the missing was a child and that the boy had been found alive. The little boy reportedly walked out of the woods and up to search crews.
Captain Cliff Swofford, a game warden with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, explained the child was located less than half a mile from where his father's boat was found on Monday.
"The child walked right up to them, was scratched up, cold and scared, but otherwise appeared to be okay," he said. "In fact, he was asking for juice."
The boy was taken to Cook Children's Medical Center and has been reunited with his mother. Rescuers are still on the water searching for his 38-year-old father.
Game Wardens say they didn't find footprints on the creek-bed and think the man may have fallen in the water.
The search began Monday evening after people reported seeing an abandoned boat along the creek. There were also personal items, including shoes, a cell phone, and fishing gear, inside the boat.
Game wardens used sonar to search the creek while a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) helicopter and a drone looked from overhead. Crews stayed on the water searching until about 2 a.m.
Swofford said the age of the young victim means they still don't have a good idea of what happened after the search was put on hold. "They really couldn't get much information being that he's barely 2-years-old," he said.
Police and firefighters from Trophy Club, Roanoke and Flower Mound are assisting with the search.
