Dog credited with leading missing 2-year-old boy to safety in northern Arizona
SELIGMAN, AZ (AZFamily) — Investigators say a dog named Buford led a toddler to safety hours after he walked away from his home in Seligman.
According to the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office, 2-year-old Boden Allen left his home near Agave Way and Jolly Road in Seligman on Monday. After the child was reported missing, a YCSO spokesperson said over 40 volunteers, several deputies and DPS troopers searched through Monday evening and into the night hours.
The high desert of northern Arizona is unforgiving, especially overnight when temperatures drop and predators come out.
“There were even two mountain lions spotted during the search last night,” said Megan Fitzgerald, YCSO’s public affairs and government relations director.
These conditions are what the young boy faced after he walked off his parents’ property Monday and into the northern Arizona high desert.
Around 8:20 a.m., 16 hours into the search, a rancher named Scotty Dunton reported that a young child had walked onto his property. Deputies responded and confirmed it was Allen, who was about seven miles away from his home.
Dunton told deputies that his dog Buford found the boy while patrolling the property and likely protected the child while directing him to safety.
“Going down the drive way and my dog was sitting down there with the little kid,” Dunton told Arizona’s Family. “Just brought him up from the horse pasture and brought him over to the gate and was just hanging out with him.”
Dunton said the only explanation he could think of is that Boden followed the powerline all the way to his property.
“‘Did you walk all night?’ And he goes, ‘no, I slept under a tree.’ And I said, ‘well, did my dog find you?’ And he said, ‘yep.’ The powerlines go out right to his house seven miles away or so.”
Fitzgerald said cases like this don’t usually turn out as they would hope. And while they’re relieved Boden was found safe and in good spirits, the sheriff’s office still can’t explain how he walked seven miles.
“It’s a rarity, so it is not every day we get to sit here and talk about a happy ending where the child was safe and located,” she said.
As for Buford, it’s back to work tonight. But not without a little reward.
“Oh, he’s getting steak dinner tonight, my wife already said,” Dunton said. ”He did a great job.”
“YCSO thanks DPS, search and rescue teams, Coconino County Sheriff’s Office, Mohave County Sheriff’s office, and the public for sharing the flyer,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release. “And of course, Buford the dog, who stayed with the boy and brought him to safety.”
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