PRESCOTT, Wis. - Word spreads in small towns. And when the word on Tuesday was that 5-year-old Scott Myer was missing it spread far and wide just south of Prescott, Wis.
Hundreds of people, strangers to Scott and no kin to his family started searching every inch of prairie without a second thought in record-breaking heat.
"We are grateful to the Pierce County Law Enforcement, volunteers, friends and family for all their support and dedication to helping us find our son," Richard and Barbara Meyer said in a statement on Thursday evening.
Scotty's condition is stable, family says. They say he's sunburned, dehydrated and has bug bites.
It was going to take an army of eyes and a miracle of luck to find the little boy living with autism and nearly no verbal skills.
"We just. We want him home, I want my baby home we want him safe," Scott's mother Barb said Tuesday night.
They searched for nearly seven hours until night fell without any luck.
By daybreak on Wednesday another thousand volunteers came to Prescott High School eager to help.
It had become clear over night that this community would forgo its holiday to find one of its own.
And by 8:30 this morning that persistence or rather insistence paid off.
Jason Moser, being led by Autumn, his 8-year-old golden retriever, found Scott.
"She headed up the hill and I heard a whimpering heard some noise like a cry. He had bare skin, a diaper on, and that just stuck out like a beacon," Moser said of finding Scott on a steep slope, tucked under a tree about a half-mile from his home.
Jason, a young father himself said Scotty took his water bottle while Jason made the call to say he found him.
The search was over.
"I was probably crying more than he was you know I just, all I could hope for was just to help," Moser said in tears moments after Scott was reunited with his family.
Jason and nearly 1,500 others deserve our thank you.
For reminding us that a country founded on its independence should be applauded by its ability to come together.
(Copyright 2012 by KARE. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)