COOPERSTOWN, N.D. – A 3-year-old boy missing for nearly six hours Monday night was discovered safe after an hours-long air, foot, bloodhound, horseback and ATV search, thanks in part to the family dog.
Griggs County Sheriff Robert Hook said the boy’s parents, Courtney and Brock Urness, called 911 about 8:30 p.m. Monday to report that their son Carson and their dog, Cooper, were missing from their farm 7 miles northwest of here.
Mom Courtney told WDAY-TV on Tuesday that she hoped their son was with Cooper, who had been left on the road as a puppy, after Carson didn’t come in from playing outside.
“You think of the worst, but then I knew Cooper was gone. If anyone was going to find him, they’d just have to find Cooper,” she said.
Authorities on foot, ATV and horseback began to expand where the family’s search had left off, joined shortly thereafter by volunteers, forming a team of nearly 200.
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The North Dakota Highway Patrol brought in a bloodhound and its airplane to help in the search.
Authorities had just decided to send the foot searchers home when a searcher on an ATV discovered Carson with Cooper around 2 a.m. Tuesday morning about a mile southeast of the family’s farm.
“Somebody came and knocked on the door and said, ‘We found them,’ and I just ran to the ambulance,” Courtney Urness told WDAY-TV.
Hook said the boy was lying down with the dog on top of him, shielding him from the cold and rain.
Carson later told his mom, “Mom, I was really scared, but Cooper laid on me. He kept me warm.”
The child was reunited with his family, then taken to Cooperstown Medical Center and released shortly thereafter.
The Binford Fire Department, Cooperstown Fire Department and Ambulance all helped in the search, Hook said.
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