A Boy's Best Friends
By: Marie Waxel, WAFF
Updated: October 18, 2012
A 10-year-old Alabama boy with Down Syndrome reported missing Tuesday has been found.
The family said Kyle Camp was watching television around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday before he went missing.
They searched for him until 7 p.m. and then called police.
Dozens of volunteers and the sheriff's department searched for the boy all night.
Officials said at one point, at least 150 volunteers were searching for the boy.
Marion County Sheriff's Department, all surrounding fire departments, and Hackleburg Police assisted in the search.
A State Trooper helicopter was deployed overnight to search for Kyle, and went up again at 8 a.m. Wednesday.
The search encompassed a mile and a half perimeter.
Volunteers searched until 5 a.m. and then continued at 7 a.m.
A volunteer searcher said he followed his family dog along a creek in thick brush and found the dog's puppies with the boy around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
"I heard the dogs barking again and followed him down there and started hollering for the puppies and I hollered for him and he hollered back. He was in the creek about a half a mile over the ridge," said searcher Jamie Swinney.
Swinney said he volunteered to help because he has kids of his own and that made being part of the reunion even sweeter.
"The main thing was getting him to his dad. That's where I wanted to get him to was to his dad. When I found him I asked if he was alright and he said yeah, he said he just wanted to go home," Swinney said.
Officials said the boy was wet and had no shoes.
They think the puppies kept him warm overnight.
As Kyle was being treated for minor scrapes and bruises at a hospital in Hamilton, his brother Chris Bailey stopped to thank the friends and perfect strangers who helped bring Kyle home.
"Thank you, thank you so much. I had people from work, as many people as I could get together. Just thank you, it's amazing we could all come together like this," Bailey said.
"It was amazing how many people came together to look, because we couldn't have gotten it all on our own. It's just amazing the community is that close to each other," Bailey added.
Another rescue searcher said the turnout of volunteers didn't surprise him.
"It actually shows how great the community is. Everybody can pull together and come as one just to make sure one is found, I mean the community is great. I love Hackleburg," Joshua James said.
Kyle was treated for scrapes and bruises at the hospital and is expected to be ok.
The family said Kyle Camp was watching television around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday before he went missing.
They searched for him until 7 p.m. and then called police.
Dozens of volunteers and the sheriff's department searched for the boy all night.
Officials said at one point, at least 150 volunteers were searching for the boy.
Marion County Sheriff's Department, all surrounding fire departments, and Hackleburg Police assisted in the search.
A State Trooper helicopter was deployed overnight to search for Kyle, and went up again at 8 a.m. Wednesday.
The search encompassed a mile and a half perimeter.
Volunteers searched until 5 a.m. and then continued at 7 a.m.
A volunteer searcher said he followed his family dog along a creek in thick brush and found the dog's puppies with the boy around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
"I heard the dogs barking again and followed him down there and started hollering for the puppies and I hollered for him and he hollered back. He was in the creek about a half a mile over the ridge," said searcher Jamie Swinney.
Swinney said he volunteered to help because he has kids of his own and that made being part of the reunion even sweeter.
"The main thing was getting him to his dad. That's where I wanted to get him to was to his dad. When I found him I asked if he was alright and he said yeah, he said he just wanted to go home," Swinney said.
Officials said the boy was wet and had no shoes.
They think the puppies kept him warm overnight.
As Kyle was being treated for minor scrapes and bruises at a hospital in Hamilton, his brother Chris Bailey stopped to thank the friends and perfect strangers who helped bring Kyle home.
"Thank you, thank you so much. I had people from work, as many people as I could get together. Just thank you, it's amazing we could all come together like this," Bailey said.
"It was amazing how many people came together to look, because we couldn't have gotten it all on our own. It's just amazing the community is that close to each other," Bailey added.
Another rescue searcher said the turnout of volunteers didn't surprise him.
"It actually shows how great the community is. Everybody can pull together and come as one just to make sure one is found, I mean the community is great. I love Hackleburg," Joshua James said.
Kyle was treated for scrapes and bruises at the hospital and is expected to be ok.
