New Orleans: In a miraculous occurrence, a one-year-old toddler, known as 'miracle baby', survived two days of stormy weather and was spotted crawling along a roadside by a truck driver a day after his four-year-brother was found dead and his mother was arrested in Mississippi. Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Gary “Stitch” Guillory said the baby had numerous bug bites but otherwise appeared to be in good condition.
The four-year-old child was found dead on Monday in Lake Charles, about 200 miles (322 km) west of New Orleans, according to Guillory, and autopsy reports are pending as of now. The body had been found in a lake behind an Interstate 10 welcome center near the Texas state line. Authorities investigating the 4-year-old’s death learned that he had last been seen Saturday with his mother, Aaliyah Jack, 25, of Lake Charles, and the 1-year-old.
Fearing that the one-year-old was dead, authorities on Tuesday prepared to search the water where the dead child was found. Then a truck driver called 911 after spotting the baby. “We look at this 1-year-old as our miracle baby because he was still alive,” a visibly moved Guillory said.
According to the Sheriff, the toddler spent two days out in the weather on the side of the highway. "Thank God that trucker seen him," he said. Meanwhile, an alert for law enforcement agencies was issued for Jack on Monday night, and a Louisiana judge issued a warrant for her arrest.
Jack was arrested in Meridian, Mississippi, some time on Tuesday. “She was located in Mississippi, without the 1 year old, by the Meridian Police Department and taken into custody,” the Calcasieu Sheriff’s Office said. The search for the baby continued until the trucker reported seeing a baby in a ditch along Interstate 10.
The woman is set to be extradited to Louisiana, where she faced a charge of failure to report a missing child. The judge who issued the warrant set bond at $300,000, Guillory said. Kayla Vincent, a spokeswoman for the sheriff, said no other charges were pending as of Wednesday afternoon and that the investigation was continuing.
Notably, Hurricane Beryl brought strong winds and torrential rain in Texas on early Monday, complicating search efforts for the child. Beryl, the season's earliest Category 5 hurricane on record, pounded the coastal Texas town of Matagorda with dangerous storm surges and heavy rain before moving across Houston. It swept a destructive path through Jamaica, Grenada, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines last week.
(with inputs from agency)
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