Haas and toddler

Deputy Ben Haas and the child shortly after he was located. Photo, courtesy of the Allegan County Sheriff's Office, blocked the child's face.

(Courtesy, Allegan County Sheriff's Office)

Medo the dog was a hero Saturday morning after finding a toddler lost all night in the woods.

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ALLEGAN, MI-- A two-year-old who wandered from home as his parents did yard work Friday night was found safe and sound in a wooded area a quarter of a mile away Saturday morning by a deputy's search dog.

The child cheerfully waved at the deputy and asked to pat the dog, ending a search through the rainy night that had involved a dozen agencies from around the region.

The boy's parents called the Allegan County Sheriff's Office at about 9:30 p.m. Friday, May 29, after they and other family members were unable to find the child after noticing he was no longer in the yard at about 9 p.m.

Search dogs from the Allegan County Sheriff's Office and the Michigan State Police, as well as officers, were called to help.

After an initial hour-long search failed to located the child, additional resources, including five additional dogs, were brought in from the Allegan County Sheriff's Office, Michigan State Police, the Van Buren County Sheriff's Department, the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, the Plainwell Department of Public Safety, Allegan Police Department, the Gobles Area Fire Department, Allegan Township Fire Department, Wayland Township Fire Department, Allegan County Search and Rescue Team, Life EMS, and a helicopter from Air Care.

The search area covered open farm fields and wooded areas within a mile of the residence, through intermittent rain storms.

At about 4 a.m. Saturday, Deputy Ben Haas from the Allegan County Sheriff's Office and his K9, Medo, located the child in a wooded area about a quarter of a mile mile west of his home.

The child was uninjured and remained in good spirits while he was checked out by medical personnel on scene.