A 3-year-old boy who went missing from his grandmother’s North Carolina backyard earlier this week was found alive in a heavily wooded area on Thursday night, a report said.
Casey Hathaway, who had been missing since Tuesday afternoon, was in good health and taken to the hospital for an evaluation, according to WECT-TV.
The boy was found by police entangled in a briar patch near where he was last seen. Authorities responded to the area after a tip and found him the boy crying for his mother, police said in a press conference Thursday night.
“He’s good. He’s up and talking. He’s already asked to watch Netflix — so he’s good,” his mother, Brittany, said at the press conference after the boy was found.
“Thank you all for coming out. All the prayers. It means a lot,” the boys father, Chris, added.
Casey was playing outside with two other kids Tuesday afternoon before he vanished. His grandmother searched for 45 minutes after the other children returned inside without him.
Hundreds of people from the community were searching for the little boy until he was found safe on Thursday night.
Local police credited the search parties with the boy being found safe.
“It was folks giving us tips and leads, and the rescue teams, and everybody that was out there jumping right out there and following every lead,” Craven County Sheriff Chip Hughes said. “Let me tell you we had a lot of them come in.”