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MILFORD, Beaver County — A missing 3-year-old boy was found safe Saturday morning after a search through the night, the Beaver County Sheriff's Office said.
Officers reported that the child is OK, and is being given medical care on scene. They thanked everyone who volunteered to help with the search.
The boy was reported missing around 7 p.m. Friday evening in an unincorporated area of Beaver County west of Milford, according to a statement.
"The area is rugged and the child is unfamiliar with the area," the sheriff's office said in an earlier statement.
Beaver County Sheriff's Deputies along with Beaver County Search and Rescue responded to the search along with many volunteers, a Division of Wildlife Resources police dog and the Department of Public Safety helicopter.
Beaver County Sheriff Cameron Noel said that he "just witnessed a miracle," after finding the child safe.
"I've been the sheriff for ... years and thought I was going to have to give some absolutely horrific and terrible bit of news to a mother and a father," Noel said.
Noel explained that the boy was with his family and a group of family friends from northern Utah searching for rocks and gems when he wandered off into a "real remote area."
After searching all night, the boy was found at around 8:45 a.m. Saturday morning.
"The weather last night got down to about 27 degrees and when you're talking about a 3-year-old that's out there, we figured that he'd either obtained hypothermia or possibly been taken by a cougar or wild animal," Noel said. "It was just such great news, miracle actually, that he was found on a hillside."
Noel said that a member of the search party was on a hillside about a quarter of a mile away from where the boy went missing when he heard a noise and was able to locate the boy.
