A trucker found a baby crawling in a ditch by an interstate highway after his brother was found dead and his mother was arrested, authorities in southwestern Louisiana said Tuesday.
Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office (CPSO) deputies responding to an emergency call around 9:00 a.m. regarding the discovery identified the one-year-old child as one of the two sons of Aaliyah N. Jack, 25, of Lake Charles, according to a CPSO press release. The baby was “in a ditch on I-10 eastbound near mile marker 10.”
The baby had multiple insect bites, CPSO Sheriff Gary “Stitch” Guillory told reporters, according to The Associated Press (AP).
“We look at this one-year-old as our miracle baby, because he was still alive,” an emotional Guillory said, footage obtained by the outlet showed.
“Unbelievable. This kid spent two days out in the weather on the side of the highway. Thank God that trucker seen [sic] him. When we looked at the video, here he was crawling toward the highway,” Guillory added in the video.
Calcasieu Parish lies on Louisiana’s southwest border with Texas. Hurricane Beryl hit Texas Monday, and both the baby and the search party had braved its resulting cloudbursts and gusts before the child was spotted, the AP reported.
Before the discovery, officers from Mississippi‘s Meridian Police Department had arrested Jack, who was last seen with the baby and his four-year-old brother Jul. 6, the CPSO wrote. The arrest followed the CPSO’s Be on the Lookout (BOLO) alert to various law enforcement agencies and a $300,000 arrest warrant charging Jack “with failure to report a missing child.”
Authorities continue to investigate and Jack could face additional charges, authorities said.
Calling the baby’s presence in the ditch “a tragic incident,” according to the CPSO, Guillory said the baby “was taken to a local hospital to be checked out. He is now safe and in the care of authorities.”
The baby’s elder brother was found dead at around 3:00 p.m. Monday in “a body of water” near the Vinton Welcome Center just off the I-10 in Calcasieu Parish, the CPSO separately said. The floating body had no clear injuries and an investigation began, authorities said.
The baby was identified as Kingtrail and his elder brother as Legend, according to NOLA.com. (RELATED: Woman Found Guilty Of Torturing Special Needs Son, Appears To Throw Up On Stand When Shown Photo Of Malnourished Body)
Both Aaliyah Jack’s mother, Conswella Jack, and the boys’ paternal grandmother had been caring for the boys as their mother had fallen on hard times, Conswella told the outlet. Aaliyah Jack, however, reportedly retained legal custody of the children.
“I was so blessed to hear the baby survived but also so hurt because one is now gone,” Conswella Jack told the outlet.
Aaliyah Jack reportedly fled with the children during a visit Jul. 6 after meeting Conswella Jack, who was to attend her own mother’s funeral, Conswella said.
“The next day, which was Sunday, after trying to call her, she finally reaches out to me, but it’s a text,” Conswella Jack told the outlet. “She sent me a picture of a car in some bushes that kind of looked like it was wrecked. I was confused, so I called, called and called, and could not reach her.”
“I just buried my mother, and now my grandson? And he’s only 4 years old. Legend was so sweet and just lovable,” Consuella Jack reportedly said.
Kingtrail is to be placed in state custody, which Consuella Jack objected to, according to the outlet.
Aaliyah Jack had no prior criminal history, court records said, NOLA.com reported.
