(SELIGMAN, Ariz.) — An Arizona toddler who had been missing for 16 hours was found safe by a rancher’s dog on Tuesday, according to the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office.
Boden Allen, 2, was first reported missing just before 5 p.m. on Monday, after he wandered off from his family’s home in Seligman, a rural area approximately 8100 miles north of Phoenix, officials said.
The incident began after Boden was playing with his mother outside their home and followed her back inside when she went to change his sibling’s diaper, according to Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Jeff Newnum. Boden returned outside to play and “just disappeared,” Newnum told ABC News.
“Within 10 minutes of her changing the diaper, having him right next to her, she looks down, he’s nowhere to be found inside,” he said.
Deputies, accompanied by over 40 search and rescue members, arrived on the property and scanned the area for Boden for about 16 hours, officials said. During their search, officials noted that they spotted two mountain lions “among the terrain the boy traveled.”
On Tuesday morning, rancher Scotty Dunton reported that “a young child had walked onto his property,” according to the sheriff’s office.
The rancher said his dog, Buford, spotted the boy while he was patrolling the property — which is approximately seven miles away from the Allen family home — for coyotes.
“He loves kids so I can imagine he wouldn’t leave him when he found him,” the rancher said in a video shared by the sheriff’s office.
Buford, an Anatolian Pyrenees, remained at Boden’s side, garnering Dunton’s attention. The boy told the rancher he had slept under a tree, officials said.
“This dog did not obviously view Boden as a threat, but realized that there was something wrong, and instinctively went to this child,” Newnum said.
Dunton, who was aware of the search and rescue efforts going on in the area, quickly notified officials that he found Boden, according to Newnum.
“I can’t believe that kid made it that far, it’s seven miles and that’s if he walked in a straight line,” Dunton said. “There’s three big mountain ranges between here and his house and big valleys. For a 2-year-old to do that, that’s insane.”
Newnum said the sheriff’s office plans on visiting Buford in about a week with a big steak wrapped in a bow.
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