1-year-old ‘miracle baby’ survives 2 days alone in ditch near where brother’s body is found; mother arrested

A 1-year-old “miracle baby” survived two days in a ditch along a Louisiana highway a few miles from where his 4-year-old brother’s body was found, authorities said.

The children’s mother, Aaliyah N. Jack, was arrested at a train station in Mississippi “trying to get out of town,” Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, Sheriff Stitch Guillory said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

Authorities in Louisiana were alerted Monday afternoon that a body had been found in the water behind the Vinton Welcome Center, a rest stop in Calcasieu Parish. The body was identified as that a 4-year-old child.

A cause of death has not been determined.

Guillory said deputies sent out a media release seeking help identifying the child. A person contacted the sheriff’s office to report not having seen some family members and believing the child could be a relative.

Authorities learned that the 4-year-old had been last seen with Jack and his 1-year-old brother. The sheriff’s office did not release the children’s names.

Nearby law enforcement agencies issued an alert to be on the lookout for Jack, Guillory said, and an arrest warrant was issued for failure to report a missing child.

Police in Meridian, Mississippi, arrested Jack on Monday night without her 1-year-old son. Meridian police declined to comment on the case.

The 1-year-old was found alive Tuesday morning after a truck driver spotted the baby off Interstate 10. NBC affiliate KPLC of Lake Charles reported that the ditch was a few miles from the 4-year-old’s body was found.

Guillory said video showed the baby crawling toward the highway.

“We looked at this 1-year-old as our miracle baby because he was still alive. Unbelievable,” Guillory said. “This kid spent two days out in the weather on the side of the highway. Thank God that trucker seen him.”

The baby had a few insect bites but is “in good spirits,” Guillory told reporters. He was taken to the hospital for an evaluation and will be placed in the custody of child protective services.