Heartrending moment toddler, 3, is found safe and well after vanishing from his rural home for 15 hours… as sobbing relatives are reunited with him
- Walker Mangus didn’t return from walking his dog and got lost in the woods
- Finally found 15 hours later when a family friend came across him
A missing three-year-old boy has been found safe and reunited with his family after fifteen hours alone in the woods.
Walker Mangus helped his father feed the animals on their property in Wanette, Oklahoma, and took his blue dog for walks.
He left around 7:30 PM on Thursday but never returned. His family became very concerned and reported him missing.
About 100 people searched for Walker on foot, horseback and four-wheelers and used a drone to search the area.
Walker Mangus disappeared from his family’s rural estate in Wanette, Oklahoma
The dog eventually returned, but there was no sign of Walker until he was found about a mile from his home around 10:10 a.m. Friday.
Family friend Justin Black found Walker in a tree while walking the wrong direction toward his home.
Black got off work early and joined the search party, and it took only 15 minutes before he came across the little boy, who didn’t seem bothered by the night in the rain.
‘As cheerful as it can be. βHe just started reaching out to me and walking towards the road, and someone drove side by side along the road and picked us up,β he said. KOCO.
His family fell to the ground and cried when he was reunited after 15 hours
Walker was taken home in a truck after he was found in a tree a mile from his home
Walker was driven back to his family, who hugged him in a tearful reunion.
Pottawatomie County Undersheriff Travis Dinwiddie said the search struggled with the dark, weather and trees until dawn.
“He seemed to be in a very good mood because he had spent the night alone in the dark, in the rain, in thunder and lightning,” he said.
Walker was taken to hospital but appeared unharmed.
Walker’s overjoyed family celebrates his return