A 2 -year -old boy who spent the night alone in the remote desert of Arizona and walked 7 miles through the territory of Lion Mountain was taken to a place safe by the dog of a rancher, the authorities said on Tuesday.
A large search operation was launched when Boden Allen disappeared from his home in Seligman, Arizona, about 100 miles south of the Grand Canyon National Park, around 5 pm on Monday. He wore only a blue -sleeved shirt and pajama pants, said Yavapai County Sheriff’s office, he said.
The Sheriff’s office said more than 40 rescuers, including the rangers of the Department of Public Security, joined the search, and a DPS helicopter saw two mountain lions in the area.
But 16 hours after disappearing, Ranchero Scottie Dunton found him in his land seven miles away. The child was safe and well and apparently he had been taken to his property by his dog, Buford.
“I got on my truck to go to the city and see Buford walking along the side of the fence with a blond child with him,” Dunton told the NBC KPNX affiliate from Phoenix. “I had heard about the missing child this morning, so he knew it was him.”
Dunton asked the child if he had walked all night, and he replied: “No, I went down under a tree.”
The farm of beef, Dunton said that the child was in good shape but annoyed. The rancher tracked the child’s steps and discovered that the dog had escorted him for at least one mile. He said the dog normally patrols his land and eliminates the coyotes.
“He went through a rough country, all mountains, cannons and rock batteries, and it is difficult for adults, much less for 2 -year -old children,” Dunton said. “He did a remarkable job to go seven miles as he did.”
Dunton added that not only lions and coyotes, but the occasional bear can be found in the area.
As for Buford, an Anatolian Pyrenees, Dunton said: “He loves the children and I imagine that he would not leave him once he has found it.”
