UPDATE: Calcasieu Sheriff Stitch Guillory says the body of a child found near the Vinton Welcome Center has been identified. The child's mother is under arrest in Mississippi - and his one-year-old brother was spotted by a trucker as the baby was crawling in a ditch near Interstate 10.
"We call him our miracle baby, because it's a miracle he's still alive," Guillory said during a Tuesday afternoon presser. "We're so thankful for this trucker that saw this baby this morning and immediately pulled over on the side of the road and called 911."
It is "unbelieveable," the sheriff said.
"This kid spent two days out in the weather on the side of the highway. Thank God that trucker saw him. When you look at the video, there he was, crawling toward the highway," Guillory said, his voice wavering.
The child was checked out at the hospital but seemed to be OK, he said.
The four-year-old's body has been sent to Beaumont for an autopsy; until that's complete deputies have no cause of death, he added.
Aaliyah N. Jack, 25, of Lake Charles, identified as the mother of both boys, has been arrested in Mississippi on a warrant for failure to report a missing child.
The sheriff said deputies were able to identify the child late Monday night, and learned he was last seen in the company of his mother and one-year-old brother. A family member called deputies and said they were concerned the body that was found was a relative, and a BOLO was issued for the mother and she was found at a Mississippi train station, he said.
But the one-year-old wasn't with her, and they were searching for the one-year-old when the call came in from the trucker, the sheriff said.
The sheriff said his detectives are still working the case, in Louisiana and Mississippi.
"Our investigation still going on, we still have a lot of work to do but I can promise you that this sheriff's office is going to commit every resource we have in order to bring justice," he said.
KPLC was at the presser and livestreamed it on their Facebook page. Here's the full press conference from KPLC:
On Monday, witnesses reported a body in the water behind the center around 3 p.m. on Monday. Deputies found a body, and the CPSO Marine Division was able to recover the child. There were no obvious signs of injuries.
“It is with a heavy heart we have to share the news of the young boy found earlier today. At this time we continue to have detectives on scene and are working to identify him. We have checked with local agencies in our area as well as Texas and there appears to be no cases of a missing child reported that match the description. We are asking anyone who may have information or anyone who may have been in the area of the Vinton Welcome Center and observed any suspicious activity, no matter how minimal it may seem, to call CPSO at (337)491-3605,” said Sheriff Stitch Guillory Monday afternoon.
