Four-Year-Old Boy Reunited With Worried Dad After Being Rescued From Woods

This is the moment a four-year-old boy that had gone missing in the thick forest by his home gets rescued by Florida deputies and reunited with his father.

The boy, later identified as Franklin “Frankie” Orwig III, was safely retrieved by deputies with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, located in Florida, USA.

Frankie reportedly went missing from his house on Burgess Avenue in unincorporated Cocoa, Florida, shortly before 9am on Friday, 10th February.

The boy vanished when his father was taking a brief nap and left the four-year-old kid to play on the iPad.

The Sheriff’s Office immediately activated its Child Abduction Response Team and dispatched a helicopter to conduct an aerial search.

Deputies of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office rescue a missing 4-year-old boy in the woods, in Florida, US, on Friday, Feb. 10, 2023. Frankie, the missing boy, was found unharmed about 60 yards from his home with his loyal dog, Rufus. (Brevard County Sheriff’s Office/Newsflash)

The helicopter pilot and tactical flight officer saw the boy in a densely forested region and guided ground search and rescue workers to him.

Frankie was discovered uninjured around 180 feet from his home with his devoted dog, Rufus, who stayed at the boy’s side, the Sheriff’s Office said.

In a video obtained by Newsflash from the Sheriff’s Office, deputies can be seen carrying Frankie out of the thick woods before handing him to his crying father.

Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey expressed his satisfaction with the successful operation, saying: “I would like to personally thank all of the various agencies that responded to this incident, as well as all of our citizens and friends across the country who were working in their own way to ensure that Frankie made it home safe!!”