A truck driver driving through Louisiana was able to see a one-year-old “miracle baby” crawling in a ditch as police frantically searched for the infant following the mysterious death of his brother.
The baby, identified by his grandmother as Kingtrail, had to survive stormy weather as Hurricane Beryl inundated the area with heavy rain and gusty winds on Monday, but was relatively unharmed when he was found Tuesday.
“We consider this 1-year-old our miracle baby because he was still alive,” Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Gary “Stitch” Guillory said at a news conference, noting that the infant had numerous insect bites but otherwise appeared to be in good condition.
“This boy spent two days out in the open on the side of a road,” the sheriff continued.
“Thank God the truck driver saw him.”
A one-year-old boy has been described as a “miracle baby” after apparently surviving two days crawling on the side of an interstate highway.
Guillory said authorities found the baby’s 4-year-old brother in a lake behind a welcome center near the Texas state line on Monday.
Deputies then issued a BOLO to get more information for the toddler’s family, and a family from Mississippi contacted them saying they were concerned it may have been their relative.
She also mentioned for the first time that the boy had a 1-year-old brother and that the two siblings were last seen with their mother, Aaliyah Jack, 25, on Saturday.
At that point, officials began to worry that the baby might also be dead and prepared Tuesday morning to search the lake where Legend had been found.
But officers later received information from an unidentified truck driver who said he saw the baby crawling on the side of Interstate 10.
“There was a child sitting there on the embankment,” he said. The driver told KPLC.
“When I approached him, he smiled at me and then started crying and walked towards me. Once he walked towards me, I grabbed his hand and he stopped crying at that point.”
When officers arrived, they were able to positively identify the baby as the missing one-year-old.
An unidentified truck driver spotted the baby crawling on the side of Interstate 10
He said the boy was sitting on an embankment and started walking towards him.
Authorities feared the baby may have died after his older brother was found dead in a nearby lake.
The children’s grandmother, Conswella Jack, said she is now trying to piece together what may have happened.
“I felt very blessed to know that the baby survived, but also very hurt because one is no longer here,” she said. He told The Arcadiana Advocatedescribing Legend as “so sweet and adorable.”
Conswella explained that her daughter, Aaliyah, had legal custody of the two children, but after she fell on hard times in April and fled to Baton Rouge, they came to a mutual agreement that Conswella and the children’s other grandmother would care for them until she was back on her feet.
“I remember asking him why he was in Baton Rouge, and all he said was that he had nowhere else to go,” Conswella said.
“Legend’s grandmother went to Baton Rouge to pick up her kids and then we all got together. I took Kingtrail and Legend went with his (other) grandmother, and Aaliyah went her own way.”
The children’s mother, Aaliyah Jack, 25, faces a criminal charge of failing to report a missing child but is fighting extradition to Louisiana.
They then gathered on Saturday for Conswella’s mother’s funeral.
It was then, Conswella said, that her daughter fled with the two children.
“The next day, which was Sunday, after trying to call her, she finally contacts me, but it’s a text message,” said the heartbroken grandmother.
“She sent me a picture of a car in some bushes that looked wrecked. I was confused, so I called and called and called, but I couldn’t get through to her.”
Police say there were no signs of foul play in Legend’s death, but autopsy reports are pending.
Still, a warrant was issued for Aaliyah’s arrest Monday night, charging her with failing to report a missing child.
The woman was arrested Tuesday in Meridian, Mississippi, more than 350 miles from where her children were found.
The children’s grandmother, Conswella Jack, said she is trying to fight for custody of the baby.
She was scheduled to be extradited to Louisiana, but Aaliyah is now fighting the extradition order, KPLC reports.
In order for her to face the criminal charge in Louisiana, Gov. Jeff Landry would now have to send a letter to Mississippi officials stating the need for her to return.
If she is sent back to Louisiana, she would face a $300,000 bail.
Meanwhile, Kingtrail has been released from a local hospital and is in state custody as his grandmother struggles to bring him home.
She described the situation as “stressful,” noting, “I don’t even have the funds for it, so I have to do everything I can to get that baby back, because no one knows him like we do.”
