From the hot springs, Legg was able to quickly inform responding law enforcement of the events there preceding the search.

Scholz was celebrating his wife's birthday when law enforcement called him in for the search. He and Missoula County Sheriff's Deputy Ross Jessop tracked Crowley's vehicle for miles into the woods before finding the car and, eventually, the child.

"When that night was done, everyone was changed," Legg said in the USDA blog post. "No one will ever forget what happened and how things turned out very different than what we feared."

Scholz testified about the rescue during Crowley's sentencing hearing in March, and described the moment Jessop cleared the sticks and picked the baby, cold and coughing up woody debris, off the ground.

"It was just absolutely incredible to see this little baby just looking back at him," Scholz said.

By the next morning, authorities reported the baby boy was in good health.