On Saturday, April 5, the Blackman-Leoni Department of Public Safety responded to a call regarding a missing child from Pheasant Run Drive in Blackman Township. The child, a 2-year-old boy, was seen watching television in the living room around 8:45pm. Authorities were alerted after the child was reported missing roughly an hour later.

A coordinated search effort was immediately launched, with multiple resources deployed, including the Blackman-Leoni K-9 unit, Michigan State Police K-9 unit, and an MSP helicopter. Law enforcement officers from several different agencies, along with volunteer community members, conducted a thorough search of the area for nearly two hours.

At approximately 11:30pm that same night, after the child had been missing for about three hours, a State Police helicopter located the child near I-94, down in a ditch, curled up, wearing only a diaper. Although the child was cold, he was alert and conscious.

The child was quickly transported to Henry Ford Jackson Hospital for evaluation and authorities say he is currently in good condition.

The Blackman-Leoni Department of Public Safety thanked the Michigan State Police, MSP K-9, MSP Aviation, Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, Jackson Fire Department, Jackson Community Ambulance, Child Protective Services, and the community volunteers who assisted in the search effort. The Department says that without the collective efforts of all these agencies and volunteers, this incident would have undoubtedly ended in tragedy.