A two-year-old boy who spent a night alone in the Arizona wilderness was led to safety by a rancher’s dog and was recovering safely at home with his family on Thursday.
The toddler, identified as Boden Allen, disappeared from his home in Seligman, Arizona, at around 5pm local time on Monday, about 100 miles south of the Grand Canyon national park, prompting a large search operation. He was wearing just a blue tank top and pajama pants at the time, the Yavapai county sheriff’s office said in a missing person notice.
Allen had wandered off from his home, ending up several miles away and in territory where mountain lions live and roam, according to a Facebook post from police officials. Search parties continued their efforts throughout the night and spotted two mountain lions along the way. After 16 hours of searching, the boy was rescued.
Scotty Dunton, a rancher whose property is seven miles away from Allen’s home, said that his dog, Buford, had discovered the wandering boy. The canine had been patrolling the ranch, his regular function, and appeared to have protected and shepherded the missing boy to safety after discovering him. The boy reportedly told the rancher he had slept under a tree.
“When I was driving out the driveway, I noticed my dog was sitting down by the entrance,” Dunton, who owns Dunton Ranch in Kingman, said in a video posted by the sheriff’s office. “I look up and the little kid’s standing there with my dog.”
“I can’t believe that kid made it that far,” he added.
Dunton told NBC’s News12 of Phoenix that he “had heard about the missing child this morning, so I knew it was him”. He also described Buford, a five-year-old Great Pyrenees-Anatolian mix, as a natural guardian.
“He goes out at night and just kind of patrols. He goes half a mile, a mile from the house and just makes big loops, keeps coyotes out,” Dunton said.
The protective pooch was thanked by police for staying with the boy and bringing him to safety. Boden was reunited with his parents and though he was reportedly shaken up and sustained a few scratches, he had no major injuries.
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