20 minutes – Baby was buried nine hours in the mountains

Missoula County police were able to breathe easily on Sunday morning: after intensive research, the authorities found a five-month-old baby living among branches and rocks in the mountains of the US state of Montana . A man – perhaps the father of the child – had buried the baby in the mountains.

The baby's search began after 32-year-old Francis Carlton Crowley hit Lolo Hot Springs around 8 pm Saturday. Passersby threatened and said that he had a gun. When the alarmed police came on the scene, Crowley had already left. According to witnesses, a baby he had custody of had not been seen for several hours.

A slight moaning in the bushes

When the cops caught Crowley shortly after, the man seemed to be under the influence of the drug. He told officials that the baby may have been buried in the mountains.

The agency announced on its Facebook page that the Missoula County Search and Rescue Service as well as Forest Service personnel and the Montana Highway Patrol were being called. For six hours, the rescuers traveled the area until the deputy sheriff heard "the slight moans of a baby."

The child was lying, wearing only a dirty romper and soaked to seven degrees Celsius. The police suspect that the toddler slept about nine hours in the mountains.

He was immediately taken to the hospital, he was doing well according to the circumstances, said the police later. The child has suffered only minor scratches and bruises and is now supported by well-being. Francis Carlton Crowley is in custody and has been charged with endangering children.

(KLE / SDA)