NATIONAL NEWS

Trucker describes finding ‘miracle baby’ by the side of a highway in Louisiana

Jul 12, 2024, 11:41 AM

This image made from video provided by KPLC shows a truck passing along the highway where a 1-year-...

This image made from video provided by KPLC shows a truck passing along the highway where a 1-year-old child was found on Tuesday, July 9, 2024. Speaking at a press conference, Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Gary “Stitch” Guillory said the “miracle baby” survived two days of sometimes stormy weather before a truck driver spotted him crawling along the road the day after his 4-year-old brother was found dead and his mother was arrested in Mississippi. (KPLC via AP)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(KPLC via AP)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Reginald Walton had just rolled his 18-wheeler into Louisiana, eastbound on Interstate 10 after making a Texas delivery, when he spotted what looked like a discarded baby doll sitting on the embankment.

Then he saw movement.

“I noticed that it moved and I called 911 and told them I thought I saw a child on the side of the road,” Walton told The Associated Press in a Friday telephone interview.

Walton, of Texarkana, Texas, didn’t know it as he maneuvered his semitrailer to the roadside Tuesday morning, but the abandoned child had been the object of an intense search since his 4-year-old brother was found dead the day before. The sheriff of Calcasieu Parish later called the surviving child a “miracle baby,” saying the 1-year-old boy had been left outside and alone for around two days as intermittent storms spun off of Hurricane Beryl, which hit Texas Monday.

Walton said authorities stayed on the phone with him while he stopped his rig. “Running about 65 or 70 miles an hour in a tractor trailer, it took me about a quarter of a mile to even come to a complete stop.”

He then walked back to where he had spotted the child while police made their way there. “When I got to him, he was sitting down and as soon as he made visual contact with me, he smiled,” Walton remembered. “And then he stood up, started crying and walked toward me. And once I grabbed his hand, he stopped crying.”

Walton, who also related his story to KADN-TV in Lake Charles, only learned the full backstory hours later on the internet.

On Monday, authorities in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, had pulled the boy’s 4-year-old brother from a lake behind an interstate welcome center near the Texas line. The children’s mother was arrested hundreds of miles away in Meridian, Mississippi, and faces multiple charges in Louisiana, including second-degree murder.

Hours after Walton rescued the baby, Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Gary “Stitch” Guillory said the child appeared to be in good condition, although he had numerous insect bites. The child was to be turned over to state family services authorities.

“It was just sad to know someone would leave a child by the side of the road,” Walton said Friday. “I was just glad that I was the one to be there — to be able to help him.”

National News

FILE - A volunteer pours water to cool a man off during a hot day in Karachi, Pakistan, May 21, 202...

Associated Press

European climate agency says this will likely be the hottest year on record — again

CHICAGO (AP) — For the second year in a row, Earth will almost certainly be the hottest it’s ever been. And for the first time, the globe this year reached more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming compared to the pre-industrial average, the European climate agency Copernicus said Thursday. “It’s this relentless […]

1 hour ago

FILE - The New Yorker Hotel sign glows at dusk, Wednesday, April 17, 2013 in New York. (AP Photo/Ma...

Associated Press

Man who used legal loophole to live rent-free for years in NYC hotel found unfit to stand trial

NEW YORK (AP) — A man charged with fraud for claiming to own a storied Manhattan hotel where he had been living rent-free for years has been found unfit to stand trial, prosecutors said Wednesday. Doctors examining Mickey Barreto deemed he’s not mentally competent to face criminal charges, and prosecutors confirmed the results during a […]

2 hours ago

Associated Press

AP Race Call: Republican Abraham Hamadeh wins election to U.S. House in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District

Republican Abraham Hamadeh won election to a U.S. House seat representing Arizona on Wednesday. He defeated Democrat Gregory Whitten. Hamadeh is endorsed by presidential nominee Donald Trump and Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake. He will represent a region that includes suburbs north and west of Phoenix. He’ll be succeeding Republican Rep. Debbie Lesko, who is […]

2 hours ago

Associated Press

AP Race Call: Democrat Jimmy Gomez wins reelection to U.S. House in California’s 34th Congressional District

Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez won reelection to a U.S. House seat representing California on Wednesday. He defeated fellow Democrat and children’s court attorney David Kim, who was running against him for the third time in a row. Gomez was first elected to Congress in 2017. The district is almost entirely in the city of Los […]

3 hours ago

Associated Press

Stock Market Today: Asian shares retreat after Trump’s victory as focus turns to the Fed

Shares retreated in Asia early Thursday after U.S. stocks stormed to records as investors wagered on what Donald Trump’s return to the White House will mean for the economy and the world. Markets also were turning their attention to the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates, due later in the day. Japan’s Nikkei 225 shed […]

3 hours ago

FILE - In this photo reviewed by U.S. military officials, the control tower of Camp VI detention fa...

Associated Press

Judge blocks Pentagon chief’s voiding of plea deals for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, others in 9/11 case

WASHINGTON (AP) — A judge at the military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has ruled that plea bargains struck by alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two codefendants were valid, striking down an order by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to throw out the plea deals and continue to trial, a government official said Wednesday. […]

3 hours ago

Trucker describes finding ‘miracle baby’ by the side of a highway in Louisiana