A truck driver traveling through Louisiana spotted a one-year-old “miracle baby” crawling in a ditch as police frantically searched for the infant after the mysterious death of his brother.
The baby, identified by his grandmother as Kingtrail, had to survive stormy weather when Hurricane Beryl battered the area with heavy rain and strong winds on Monday. But he was relatively unharmed when he was found on Tuesday.
“We consider this one-year-old our miracle child because he’s still alive,” Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Gary “Stitch” Guillory said at a news conference, noting that the baby had numerous insect bites but otherwise appeared to be in good condition.
“This boy spent two days out in the elements along the highway,” the sheriff continued.
‘Luckily the truck driver saw him.’
A one-year-old baby is being described as a ‘miracle baby’ after surviving two days crawling along a highway
Guillory explained that authorities found the baby’s 4-year-old brother Monday in a lake behind a shelter near the Texas border.
The officers then sent out a warrant to get more information for the young child’s family. A family from Mississippi also reached out, saying they were concerned it might be a relative of theirs.
She also said for the first time that the child had a one-year-old brother and that the two siblings were last seen with their mother, Aaliyah Jack, 25, on Saturday.
From that point on, authorities began to worry that the baby might also be dead, and on Tuesday morning they were prepared to search the lake where Legend was found.
But officers then received a call from an unknown truck driver who said he saw the baby crawling along the side of Interstate 10.
“There was a little boy sitting there on the dike,” said the the driver told KPLC.
“When I approached him, he smiled at me and then he started crying and walked towards me. When he walked towards me, I took his hand and then he stopped crying.”
When officers arrived on scene, they were able to positively identify the baby as the missing one-year-old.
An unknown truck driver saw the baby crawling on the side of Interstate 10
He said the child was in a dike and started walking towards him
Authorities feared the baby may have died after his older brother was found dead in a nearby lake
The boys’ grandmother, Conswella Jack, says she is now trying to piece together what could have happened.
“I was so blessed to hear that the baby survived, but also so sad because now one of them has passed away,” she said. told The Arcadiana Advocateand described Legend as “so sweet and just plain lovable.”
Conswella explained that her daughter, Aaliyah, had legal custody of the two boys, but that in April she fell on hard times and fled to Baton Rouge. They had a mutual agreement at the time that Conswella and the children’s other grandmother would look after them until she was able to stand on her own two feet.
I remember asking her why she [was] “In Baton Rouge, and all she said was she had nowhere else to go,” Conswella said.
‘So Legend’s grandmother went to pick up her kids from Baton Rouge and then we all got together. I took Kingtrail and Legend went with his [other] grandmother, and Aaliyah went their separate ways.’
The boys’ mother, Aaliyah Jack, 25, is facing criminal charges for failing to report a missing child but is fighting extradition to Louisiana
On Saturday they gathered for the funeral of Conswella’s mother.
Then, Conswella said, her daughter fled with the two boys.
“The next day, Sunday, I tried to call her. She finally got back to me, but it was a text message,” the heartbroken grandmother said.
“She sent me a picture of a car in some bushes that looked like it had been vandalized. I was confused, so I called and called and called, but I couldn’t reach her.”
Police said there is no evidence of foul play in Legend’s death, but autopsy reports are still pending.
However, an arrest warrant was issued for Aaliyah on Monday evening for failing to report her child’s disappearance.
She was arrested Tuesday in Meridian, Mississippi, more than 350 miles (560 kilometers) from where her children were found.
The boys’ grandmother, Conswella Jack, said she is trying to fight for custody of the baby
She was set to be extradited to Louisiana, but Aaliyah is now fighting the extradition order, KPLC reports.
In order to prosecute her in Louisiana, Governor Jeff Landry must now send a letter to authorities in Mississippi stating the need for her return.
If she is returned to Louisiana, she will have to post a $300,000 bail.
Kingtrail has since been released from the local hospital and is in custody as his grandmother fights to take him back home.
She described the situation as “stressful” and said: “I don’t even have the financial means for it, so I have to do everything I can to get the baby back because no one knows him as well as we do.”