A 2-year-old boy who wandered away from his family's house in Alden Township just before 11 a.m. Saturday was found alive and well nearly three hours later, a half-mile from where he was last seen.
"The boy was found with the use of a bloodhound," said Capt. Tom Crossman of the St. Louis County Rescue Squad. A Lake County Sheriff's officer with a bloodhound dog spotted the boy in the woods.
The dog that discovered the child was the only one dispatched to the scene, although another was on the way when the boy was found, Crossman said. Six area law enforcement agencies were involved in the search, and a plane was on the way to search the area from above -- standard procedure when a child is missing in the woods, Crossman said.
Crossman said he was told by an officer on the scene that the boy was in good condition and did not need medical attention.
As is typical in cases of small children who wander off, the boy wasn't panicked because he didn't realize the seriousness of the situation, Crossman said. The boy had wandered off when the parents weren't looking, he said.
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"The handler [of the police dog] told me he first observed him looking over the tall grass," Crossman said.
Alden Township is north of Duluth and east of Two Harbors in St. Louis County.
