ST. GEORGE — A 3-year-old child nicknamed “Mo-Mo” survived about 15 hours of being lost in the outdoors near Beaver after wandering away from his parents while rockhounding west of Milford.
According to a media release by Beaver County Sheriff’s Office, the child was reported missing at approximately 7 p.m. Friday night.
“The area is rugged, and the child is unfamiliar with the area,” the release said.
The child was found at about 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning and is in good health with no signs of hypothermia after spending a night with the temperature dropping down to 23 degrees. No other injuries were reported except for “being found crying,” according to the KSL news report.
The Beaver County Search and Rescue, along with deputies of the Sheriff’s Office, participated in a search. Over 100 people helped with the search.
The Department of Public Safety provided a helicopter to assist as well as the Division of Wildlife Resources K-9 dogs.
At about 5 a.m. this morning, the Sheriff’s Office notified the media through another release with a description of the child with a plea for public assistance. The child was wearing a brown jacket, blue pants and pink snow boots.
“Mo-Mo was found alive and well,” said the boy’s parents, Xave and Sondra Wilson in a social media post. “He is in good health, and he will be discharged from the hospital shortly. They wanted to bring him in to warm him up, check his vitals, and monitor him for a bit to make sure he was stable. It is an understatement to say that this is the best possible outcome that we could have expected.”
The parents continued:
“He survived outside in the Utah desert wilderness for 15+ hours in 23° weather and didn’t have a scratch on him. This is nothing short of a miracle. We appreciate all of the prayers, searchers, volunteers, medical staff, and everyone else for all of your help. We can never repay y’all or express the depth of our gratitude for your dedication to finding our baby boy.”
St. George News has reached out to the Beaver County Sheriff’s Office for comment, but no response was received at the time of publish.
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