Missing child found in good condition, transported to hospital for evaluation

Saturday afternoon, at approximately 3 pm, the Walker County dispatch center was notified by family members that their 3 year child had wandered away down a trail near their campsite in the National Forest and they could not locate him.

Walker County Sheriff’s, EMS and the New Waverly Fire Department responded to the scene located in a remote part of the Sam Houston National Forest off Forest Rd 208. This area is several miles away southwest from the Lake Stubblefield area on the North end of Lake Conroe.

Emergency personnel from across the region and state soon joined in as the search area expanded and continued to search overnight, both from the ground and from the air. This morning, fresh search and rescue teams from Walker County, Montgomery County and Texas Equi-Search are on the ground conducting a large search operation, involving everything from Helicopters, drones, canines, ground vehicles and foot search teams.

This afternoon, nearly 24 hours after he went missing, little Ezra was found in dense thicket of briars approximately 400 yards from the last place he was seen by his family the day before. New Waverly Firefighter/EMTs were the first EMS personnel to reach the area where searchers had located the child. They assessed him and quickly moved him to a waiting Walker County EMS unit for further evaluation. He was treated at the scene for minor scrapes and scratches and dehydration, but was otherwise alert and in good spirits.

Officials were about to begin a scheduled 2pm media conference when word was received that Ezra had been found safe. Word quickly spread amongst the family members and emergency personnel on scene and there was a joyous atmosphere on scene as crews began the task of demobilizing and returning to their home agencies.

On behalf of the family and all our search crews, we would like to express our appreciation to the community for all their support and prayers.

The following agencies participated in the search and rescue operation:

Walker County

Sheriff’s Office

EMS

New Waverly Fire Department

Community Emergency Response Team

Office of Emergency Management

Huntsville PD

Huntsville FD

Sam Houston State University PD

Walker County Constables

Montgomery County

Montgomery County EMS

Montgomery County ESD 1 Fire Department

Montgomery County Search and Rescue

Montgomery Fire Department

State resources

DPS

Texas Department of Corrections

Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Wardens

OIG

Federal Resources

US Forest Service

US Forest Service Law Enforcement

DEA

Customs and Border Protection

Coast Gaurd

Search Teams

Montgomery County Search and Rescue

Alpha Search and Rescue

Texas Equi-Search