This 3-Year-Old Was Missing For 24 Hours, But A Dog Picked Up A Scent No One Was Expecting

20. Ezra Parrish

It’s every parent’s worst nightmare to have their child go missing–even if it’s only for a couple seconds. When Ezra Parrish went missing, family and rescuers looked frantically for the little boy for over 24 hours. Hope was starting to fade…

19. May 27th, 2017

On May 27th, Ezra’s mother and step-father were enjoying a date night at the local Dave and Buster’s in Houston, Texas. Ezra was with his father, spending some quality time camping nearly 60 miles away. The couple never thought Ezra would go missing…

18. Sam Houston National Forest

Ezra’s father took the little boy and his siblings to go camping in the Sam Houston National Forest, which was only about an hour away from their home. A nice family bonding trip quickly turned into something gravely serious and before his dad knew it, it was a full-blown emergency.

17.  Stubblefield Lake

The boy’s father took the little ones to an area of the national forest with a lake called Stubblefield. It’s a popular destination for hikers and campers alike to escape the noise of the city and reconnect with nature. The remote location is off Forest road 208 and is where Ezra wandered off alone…

16. The Call

At 3 pm Ezra’a father realized the seriousness of the situation after he couldn’t find the little boy. He placed a call to the local fire department in order to get some help located his son as he knew it was going to get dark soon. It was nearly 90 degrees out so local law enforcement knew they had to hurry.

15. Still Missing

After hours of searching for the little boy, hundreds of rescuers were still unable to locate him. It was time to contact Ezra’s mother and give her the news no one wants to hear…

14. Panicking

When Gloria received the call, it was a stranger on the other end informing her that her son had gone missing. Gloria was panicking and terrible thoughts were racing in her mind. She knew she was an hour away and all she wanted to do was hold her child…

13. Calling Everyone

Gloria couldn’t believe it had taken so long for her to receive the phone call. The husband and wife jumped into the car and raced to the scene. They frantically called all family members near and far for help locating Ezra…

12. Family Flying In

Gloria called everyone she could think of, including her sister who she knew would help. Gloria’s sister and niece hopped on the first flight from California to Texas and they were there in no time. By the time the entire family assembled, the efforts were in full effect.

11. Additional Help

It was getting later and darker, and the search parties still haven’t found the little boy. It was clear they needed to step things up if they had any chance of finding the little boy okay. The Cheif of the fire department knew he needed to call in for more help…

10. TXEQ

The Texas EquuSearch team, or TXEQ, is an organization that helps search and rescue teams locate missing individuals. The team is made up of 600 people who volunteer to help any community in Texas that’s in need. They came together and started searching for little Ezra…

9. Jan Tipps

A member of the organization, Jan Tipps, is a local who likes to help out people in their most desperate hour. Around 1 am, Tipps, sent out a text message asking more people for their help. The team of gracious individuals got together and around 4:30 am, they were at the campsite.

8. Working Through The Night

The entire team worked endlessly through the night, screaming out Ezra’s name in the dark. With so many people looking, it seemed impossible that he could still be lost, but he was. A volunteer, David White, told local news how creepy it was, “It was very eerie hearing family members out in the woods calling Ezra’s name in the dark”.

7. The Growing Group

By the time the sun had rose, the group looking for the little boy was enormous. There were experienced searchers, and regular people frantically looking for the little boy. There were experts among the crowd who knew the terrain and they weren’t giving up anytime soon…

6. Extraordinary Efforts

There were people on quad bikes, on foot, and using dogs, in order to find the missing little boy. It seemed as if they were never going to find him, even though they had searched over 4 square miles. But then…

5. TXEQ

The president of TXEQ, Tim Miller, thought it was time to start searching the lake for the devastating possibility that the young boy met a horrific fate. Luckily, the search turned up nothing, which meant it was time to keep pushing on.

4. The Dog

It was almost around 24 hours since the boy had gone missing, and the press conference to calm the media was fast approaching. It was starting to become evident that the situation might become grim. But then, a dog picked up a scent and quickly alerted volunteers…

3. His Cousin

Among the hard-working searchers, was Ezra’s 21-year-old cousin, Lalaine Dungca. She noticed the dog alerting to a scent nearby and she ran towards it. She remembers how strange it was calling out his name over and over without response…

2. He Was Found!

Finally, after hours of searching and calling, when Lalaine called out for Ezra, he responded. They found him in a thick portion of grass around a mile near the campsite. Amazingly, he was unharmed only bearing small scratches.

1. A Safe Return

It was a miracle! The boy and been found and although he was taken to a nearby hospital, he was going to be okay. Everyone that searched for the little boy was in a joyous mood as the outcome couldn’t have gone any better. Steve Degnar, the head of a search and rescue team told People, “The greatest outcome we could have asked for just happened right now”.