LA PORTE COUNTY, Ind. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office is sharing a story about a lost boy and a frantic search that occurred a few weeks ago.
The boy’s name is Wesley. He's two years old. His mom was getting ready to take him to a park.
He stepped outside with instructions to wait. When his mom goes out moments later, she finds him dog along with the family dog, Oakley.
The panicked mom searched the area with no sign of her son or Oakley. She then called 911 and that set in motion a large-scale search on the ground and in the air.
Capt. Derek Allen with the sheriff’s office said a woman who lives in the area heard about the search. She wasn’t home.
“And she gets on her video feed from her surveillance system and spots Wesley and Oakley on her driveway," he told WBBM. "The young boy and his pet were sitting on the rear deck of the home.”
They’d been gone about two hours. There are hills and woods and bodies of water in the area. Wesley and Oakley were found about a half-mile away from home in an area that was being searched.
Wesley, who was frightened, was reunited with his parents. He later told his parents he “fought monsters.”
Several officers visited Wesley earlier this week. "As the saying goes, 'It takes a village to raise a child," the sheriff's office said in a Facebook post recounting the incident.
As a result of this incident, the sheriff’s office said it will be launching a voluntary and confidential database where homeowners and businesses can register their video surveillance systems.
The database will be used to assist in search related incidents and criminal investigations.
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