Three-year-old boy found alive and well after missing for three days in the woods

A three-year-old boy who was lost in the woods in Canada for three days has reunited with his worried parents after rescue crew found him sleeping near a beaver pond located more than a half-mile from a property owned by his family.

The toddler, Jude Leyton, was found alive and well by rescue officials on Wednesday afternoon in South Frontenac, Ontario after searching him for three days since he went missing on Sunday noon.

The boy was found sleeping near a ‘beaver pond’, located more than half a mile from where he was last seen.

Const Curtis Dick told Global News, ‘Four of our ERT members, part of the search and rescue (team), they were on another tasking to check another area. While they’re on that tasking, they found Jude. It was a great finale to some very, very difficult days,’.

Dick explained that Jude is believed to have wandered away from The Bing Retreat, a property owned by his family. Authorities said the pond where Jude was found is attached to the property.

‘So it was across that body of water. So a significant distance for sure,’ Dick said.

Paramedics checked Jude out for any injuries but he was said to be in good condition. As an extra precaution, Jude was taken to the Kingston General Hospital Wednesday evening for further examination, Dailymail UK reported.

Frontenac Paramedics tweeted a video of them arriving at the hospital with the youngster who had been reunited with his worried parents.

Frontenac Paramedic crew bearing missing toddler found alive and well earlier this afternoon in South Frontenac arrives at KGH a few minutes ago. #ygk #infrontenac pic.twitter.com/MjIjwGIMhb

— Frontenac Paramedics (@FPSParamedics) March 31, 2021

Dick told Global News that the boy was ‘dressed for the weather,’ which likely aided in his survival over 72 hours. He had a winter jacket with a heavy wool sweater and boots.

Dick said it’s unclear how the child managed to evade their search efforts, which included 100 officers and volunteers on the ground in addition to helicopters and canine units.

Dick said the OPP would interview Jude in the hospital to try to understand what exactly happened.