Missing toddler found safe in Halifax County

A 3-year-old boy from Halifax County is home tonight and is safe after he went missing Friday afternoon.

The Halifax County Sheriff’s Office says Jaylynn Thorpe wandered away from his home off Buckshoal Road near South Boston. Close to 300 people from North Carolina and Virginia joined in the search to find him.

He was finally found around 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Ten On Your Side was the only crew there when search teams thought they found him.

“From what I can tell, they found a child,” announced one search team member to the group.

They talked back and forth on radios, leading them to Thorpe.

You could hear the radio chatter announce,”Walk up the dirt road where we came in.,” That’s when the team’s leader said, “It certainly sounds like it doesn’t it.“

It was exactly what they hoped it was. Minutes later, Thorpe, with his big brown eyes and green stocking cap sat calmly in the back of an ambulance.

His family yelled outside in celebration for him to hear while he was being examined.

“Praise the Lord. Welcome home, Jaylynn,” yelled one of his aunts, Amy Zimmerman.

Jerry Gentry was on the team that saw Thorpe sitting on a log in the woods a half mile from his home.

“He didn’t say nothing. He just opened his arms up like ‘I’m ready to go,’” Gentry said.

It was an emotional time for the search team when crews wanted to know where they found Jaylynn.

“Everyone down there is trying to read the coordinates to send back to base, had so much tears in our eyes of joy when we found the child that couldn’t nobody read the coordinates,” Gentry said.

While search dogs were looking everywhere, two puppies knew exactly where the boy was – Thorpe’s family dogs who wouldn’t leave his side.

Search team member Billie Jo Roach noticed it right away.

“Them two little puppies were right there with him. When we came out, the puppies were watching where he went. Where he went, they went,” Roach said.

The dogs were rewarded with food- their tails wagging.

Jaylynn’s mother was full of emotion, saying to the rescue teams, “I love you! God Bless You,” she cried.

Officials say about 50% of three-year-olds who wander from home are found within a half mile.

The sheriff tells us a distant relative was supposed to be watching Jaylynn when he wandered off. He says the Commonwealth’s Attorney will decide whether to file charges.