Missing Toddler Makes For Anxious Moments
Overhead view of 2507 243rd St (image from Iowa GIS)
Oskaloosa, Iowa – The saying goes, “In the blink of an eye”, and that held true for one Oskaloosa area family on Friday afternoon at 1:11 pm.
According to Mahaska County Sheriff Paul DeGeest, a call came in shortly after 1 pm in the afternoon. A mother and her family’s two and a half year old son were outside playing when the mother stepped into the house for a minute only to come back out and find that the son was gone.
The Mahaska County Sheriffs Department, Mahaska County Emergency Management, and Oskaloosa Fire Department arrived on the scene at 2507 243rd Street at the Carolan residence. Once on ,the Deputies determined that the family dog was also missing.
Behind the residence was a small pond. Behind that was a wooded area, with a larger pond behind the timber. Deputies started into the timber. They had walked through the wooded area when Deputy Miller located the dog, which was nearly three-quarters of a mile away from the family residence.
Deputy Miller was getting the attention of the dog, that was in tall grass at this point, when he all of sudden saw the little boy’s head pop up. Deputy Miller picked the boy up, and along with Emergency Management, delivered the boy back to his mother.
Mahaska County Sheriff Paul DeGeest said, “Apparently he wondered off. The dog stayed with him.” The dog staying with the child was unusual in itself, as the dog was not known to leave the yard.
The Sheriff’s Office had sent Deputy Wells to the airport to meet with a pilot and get them airborne to help in the search. In addition, Mahaska County Emergency Manager, Jamey Robinson, had alerted CERT that their assistance in performing a search might be needed. “Everything was in place and coming together,”DeGeest said of the efforts that day. “Thank God we found him before any of that happened.”
Oskaloosa Fire Department Captain Dave Christensen said that they deployed their thermal imaging camera to help search the wooded area upon their arrival. Three Oskaloosa firefighters responded to the call for help.
