A postal worker found a 2-year-old boy Thursday morning hours after the child went missing, police say.
The boy, whose first name is Ethan, went missing from his Elkridge, Maryland, home after following an adult out of the house after 10 p.m. Wednesday night, according to Howard County police.
The family contacted police immediately and around 100 officers, firefighters and volunteers searched through the night for the boy. Searchers used K9s and a drone but struggled to find him in rainy weather.
Keith Rollins was driving north on I-95 to pick up mail just after 8 a.m. Thursday when he saw the bare foot little boy in pajamas curled up on the side of the highway. He pulled over, took the boy into his mail delivery van and called police.
"I just scooped him up, took him to my vehicle, tried to cover him up to get him warm," Rollins said.
He told police he'd seen reports earlier about the missing boy.
"I believe it was God ordained for me to be in that place, at that time," said Rollins, who sings in the choir at New Covenant Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in Brentwood.
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
Cheers erupted in the command post when the call came in that the boy was found safe, police said.
Police say the boy walked about a half-mile from his home.
The boy was transferred to The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore by ambulance but appears to be healthy, according to police.
