Kentucky toddler who disappeared found safe 4 days later

Kenneth Howard, not even 2 years old, was found about 600 yards away nearly four days after he... — Kenneth Howard, not even 2 years old, was found about 600 yards away nearly four days after he was first reported missing. (Photo: Mountain Top News)

(WAVE) - The eastern Kentucky toddler who disappeared Sunday night has been found alive and “in remarkably good condition.”

A statement from the Kentucky State Police said 22-month-old Kenneth Howard was found at about 2 p.m. Wednesday in the area of a strip mine in Floyd County, just near the border of Magoffin County. That location was approximately 600 yards from his home, Hazard TV station WYMT reported.

WYMT also reported he was on a 50-foot, steep incline, clinging to a cliffside, from where search crews heard his cries.

Lexington TV station WKYT reported the 22-month-old boy was “being treated treated for dehydration,” adding that the Magoffin County Rescue Squad said he was in “remarkably good condition.”

“It was a team effort,” a Magoffin County Emergency Management official told WYMT. “We were guided there by God’s hands.”

“That child is a true Kentucky mountain boy," another search crew member told WYMT.

Howard had been missing from his Magoffin County home since Sunday at about 7:30 p.m. The circumstances surrounding his disappearance are still unclear. And how he got to the location where he was found Wednesday was not immediately known.

On Tuesday, Howard’s father announced he’d pay a $5,000 reward for the boy’s safe return.

Crews searched all over Magoffin County on Monday and Tuesday, using helicopters, thermal-camera-equipped drones, K9 search teams and off-road vehicles, while others searched on foot.