WDBJ7 Roanoke News and Weather NRV Lynchburg Danville | Updated: Puppies help lost little boy in Halifax County

Updated: Puppies help lost little boy in Halifax County

UPDATED: Monday, December 8 @ 3:58 p.m.

A Halifax County toddler is back inside where it's warm.  Jaylynn Thorpe and the family puppies spent an entire night out in the cold over the weekend.

"We know the woods pretty good here, but that was a tough one to hunt," said Amy Zimmerman, Jaylynn's Aunt.

And a tough night for anyone to survive.  With temperatures hovering below freezing on Friday night, rescuers say little Jaylynn is lucky.

"Without those dogs, I don't think he would've made it,"said Zimmerman. 

When rescuers found Jaylynn, he was with the family puppies, which all wandered off at the same time. 

Bob Wingfield, with Commonwealth Search and Rescue, was one of hundreds of volunteers looking for the boy.  He's searched for children who've wandered off with pets before, but usually the outcome is very different.

"I've done search and rescue for about 40 years, and there's only a handful of times I know the animals have stayed with the children," said Wingfield. 

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UPDATED: Monday, December 8 @ 11:39 a.m.

The Halifax County boy found over the weekend after he went missing is going home Monday.

The family tells News7 Jaylynn Thorpe has been recovering at the hospital since they found him on Saturday.  Doctors discovered his heart beating irregularly and monitored it as a precaution.

Jaylynn wandered off with the family puppies on Friday afternoon.  Rescuers found the toddler the next day with the pups in the woods half a mile from where he disappeared.

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A Halifax County boy is safe and sound after spending a night outside.  Though family members and rescue crews spent Friday night searching for the missing three-year-old, he had some friends nearby to keep him warm.

Jaylynn Thorpe wandered off late Friday afternoon from a relative's house near the woods on Buck Shoal Road. With the help of more than 200 volunteers and neighboring law enforcement agencies, search and rescue combed the area all night.

They found Jaylynn Saturday afternoon, less than half a mile from where he disappeared, but he wasn't alone.

"They found him around a log, the puppy was laying around him and they was covered up in leaves," says Jaylynn's uncle Michael Elliott.

Jaylynn's family says he and his aunt's puppies always run off and play together but never like this.

"We usually catch him right away," says Jaylynn's aunt Amy Zimmerman.  "We whistle to him, he'll come back."

With Friday night's cold temperatures, the family was relieved to know he wasn't out in the cold by himself.

"He said he was hungry, he was cold, otherwise he was in good health and good spirits," says Halifax County Sheriff Stanley Noblin.

"Everyone had their doubts, but God came to me.  Today was the day," says Jaylynn's mother Sara Ingram.

Jaylynn's mom is grateful to the entire community for turning her fears into a miracle.