Miracle' Baby Survives After Being Buried ALIVE for Nine Hours in Montana Forest
A five-month-old baby has been found alive after being buried in a pile of sticks and debris in a Montana woods for nine hours, police said.
Independent UK, 22 JUL 2018.
A 5-month-old baby was rescued after being buried under sticks and debris for about nine hours over the weekend. A man has been charged with criminal endangerment and assault on a minor.Credit
The boy, who has not been named, suffered only minor scrapes and bruises despite being found face down in the forest, wearing wet and soiled clothes in cold temperatures.
The infant was found after an extensive search after a man told them about his situation.
“This is what we call a miracle,” the Missoula County Sheriff’s office said in a statement. “For the officers who were present for this event, it’s especially hard knowing what this small baby endured in the last 24 hours.”
Federal, state and local officials combed the forest outside Lolo Hot Springs for six hours before a deputy heard a baby’s cry around the early hours of Sunday morning.
“He suffered some minor scrapes and bruising but overall is in good health,” sheriff spokeswoman Brenda Bassett said in a separate statement.
The baby was taken to hospital and custody of the child has been referred to the state’s Division of Child and Family Services. Spokesman Chuck Council declined to answer any questions about where the child will be placed or how the baby will be cared for, citing medical privacy.
Deputies were called about a man threatening people in the Lolo National Forest. Deputies apprehended Francis Crowley at the scene who indicated that a baby was buried somewhere in the woods.
Crowley’s relationship to the baby is unclear.
The 32-year-old was being held on $50,000 (£38,000) bail on a charge of criminal endangerment. Additional charges will follow, the sheriff’s office added.
A faint cry led a sheriff’s deputy to a pile of sticks and debris in the woods of western Montana. There, the deputy, part of a search-and-rescue team, discovered a 5-month-old infant buried face down, but still alive.
“It was just a whimper,” Deputy Ross Jessop said, describing the sound he heard.
The Missoula County Sheriff’s Office said that the boy, clothed only in a wet and soiled onesie, had been in the wilderness for at least nine hours, surviving a chilly night when temperatures dipped to about 46 degrees, before being discovered early on Sunday.
“This is what we call a miracle,” the sheriff’s office said.
Francis Carlton Crowley, 32, who had been caring for the infant since early Saturday, was charged with two felonies: assault on a minor under 36 months, and criminal endangerment.
He was being held in jail with bail set at $200,000.
During a court hearing on Tuesday, Mr. Crowley, who appeared from jail by video, broke down as the charges against him were read, said that he loved the child and begged the judge not to take him away, The Associated Press reported.
According to The A.P., sheriff’s officials said that Mr. Crowley had been living with the boy’s mother and the child in a camp near the hot springs in Lolo National Forest.
After the baby was found, he was treated for dehydration and scrapes and bruises. On the way to the hospital, he began “coughing up small sticks.”
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