Try to imagine this scenario. Your child is just there in your home’s backyard playing and doing typical, harmless children stuff with your supervision. It was an ordinary day at home and after making sure that your child is safe, you briefly shift your attention away from him. Maybe you had to answer an incoming call from your cell phone or went to the fridge to grab a drink and was gone for just a few minutes. After a short while, you went back to your child only to be greeted with a parent’s worst possible nightmare.

Your child is nowhere to be found. As what every parent would do in such a grim scenario, you desperately search every inch and corner of your house, calling out your child’s name, going back and forth on every place that your little one might have gone, only to arrive closer on the frightening prospect that your precious child is now missing. And perhaps what’s even worse is that you don’t even have single clue as to how it all transpired. This terrifying event sadly became the reality of one unfortunate mother.

Courtney Urness was babysitting her three-year-old son Carson in their home’s yard when the young boy suddenly vanished into thin air. Courtney felt the utter horror of losing sight of a precious little child, after all her desperate attempts to search for Carson was all in vain. She couldn’t quite wrap her head around on the mysterious disappearance of her son as the toddler was just in their yard playing with their pet dog, Cooper. Then all of a sudden, the two went missing after Courtney became preoccupied for a few brief moments.

When she dialed her attention back to her son, Carson and Cooper were both already gone, just like that. Freaked out, Courtney scoured both front and back yards and the rest of their home then went door to door in their neighborhood before finally contacting the police. Upon hearing the story of troubled mother, the officers, together with a group of concerned neighbors, relatives and close friends, flooded the home’s premises and adjacent neighborhood in an effort to find the missing boy.

The search party did everything they could to locate Carson, with the local law enforcement agents even using choppers to sweep the entire area from above. They covered other houses in the neighborhood including their yards as well, since outside a potential abduction, it would be the only reasonable places to find him. Carson was just a three year old boy so it was unlikely that he drifted far-off. There must be some kind of clue that could explain his mysterious disappearance, right?

Unfortunately for the Urness family, authorities and everyone involved in the search, there was simply no trace of the missing toddler. After hours passed and evening came without notice, the search team slowly lost their energy and will to keep on. The police was about to accept the worst case scenario when suddenly, a volunteer spotted a tiny head emerging from a remote field almost one mile away from the Urness residence.

They recognized that it was the missing boy that they were frantically searching for and apparently, he had a companion with him. Carson actually hadn’t wandered all by himself the moment he vanished. Cooper, the Urness’s pet dog, accompanied Carson in their long, bizarre expedition. No one knew as to why and how the toddler and canine duo managed to cover such a great distance. Regardless if there was a loyal canine companion beside him all those times he wandered away, it was still an amazing distance for a three year old boy to make. Yet for some reason, Cooper knew that their journey in the wilderness was a potentially life threatening event for Carson. So the toddler wouldn’t freeze out from the merciless cold of the night, Cooper was found cuddled up close with Carson, signifying the canine’s awareness of the little boy’s vulnerability and intent of keeping him safe until help arrived.

Although distressed, Carson was in good health and condition and the same went for Cooper. The odd pairing was brought home safe, to the great joy and relief of the Urness family and everyone who took part in the search and rescue operation. The remarkable and miraculous events that unfolded that day made headlines across the country, as the family conveyed their utmost appreciation for all the help they received in getting Carson back to their home. And yes, appreciation for being blessed with such a devoted and smart canine companion.