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'Tough' Toddler Survives 2 Days in Mo. Woods

He was 4 miles from home—starved, naked, and grinning

By Caroline Miller,  Newser Staff

Posted May 7, 2009 8:11 AM CDT

(Newser) – By the time his bare bottom was spotted in the woods yesterday, rescue crews were doubtful they would find Joshua Childers alive. But the 3-year-old sprang up and grinned when a volunteer called out to him. He had wandered into the Missouri woods Monday morning and survived 50 hours barely clothed and without food or water, the AP reports. 

"He's a tough little bugger," says his dad. "I don't know grown men that could do it." Childers told his grandmother that he was on his way to visit her. She lives 5 miles from his house, and he was found a half-mile away—dehydrated and covered in ticks, but otherwise fine—in a forest home to bears, mountain lions, and snakes.

This file photo shows Joshua Childers, the 3-year-old found in rugged Missouri woods yesterday, 50 hours since he wandered away from his home four miles away.
This file photo shows Joshua Childers, the 3-year-old found in rugged Missouri woods yesterday, 50 hours since he wandered away from his home four miles away.   (AP Photo/Family Photo via KSDK-TV)
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I'm going to put him up for the Grizzly Adams Award, send him bear-hunting with a stick. - Adam Childers, Joshua's father

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