Found Safe KY - Kenneth Howard, 22mths, Salyersville, 12 May 2019

[PayrollNerd]

This is all I've found.

Outside Kenneth's home early Tuesday morning, his father, Elden Howard described how emotional this has been for him and his wife.

"She's in pretty bad shape too, she'd tore all to pieces. It's just not knowing what to do. We've searched everywhere we can think of they've had dog teams in here, nothing's showing up."

"I want him home safe"; Father offers $5,000 reward for missing Magoffin County toddler

I saw a comment or two about Mom on the couple of Facebook posts that I posted upthread. However, they are not something we can reference here.

 

[Rhenish]

Given the described terrain etc. I cannot imagine that a 22 month old was able to get away so fast and so far in such a short amount of time that he cannot now be located. I am aware anything is possible and there is always that exception but I just do not see it, especially once darkness set in, hopefully I will be proven wrong. I still am concerned about the statement made earlier today suggesting there are circumstances that just cannot be talked about right now...something like that.

If a 22 month old clearly and surely wandered off what would there be that "cannot be talked about"? And like others here have mentioned, why call off a search so early in the game, although I do know they have resumed searching from the sounds of it.

I think possibly the search has resumed so that it can be confirmed and demonstrated that a thorough search did take place and that a huge effort was put into attempting to locate the little boy and that he simply is/was not in the surrounding woods and therefore one of two things happened, an abduction or something more nefarious.

I am sitting on both hands. I truly, moo, believe that if this little guy had wandered off into the woods at the time he reportedly did searchers would have located him by now, that first night. One may think about how fast this little boy perhaps ran off and "got away" but I am of the opinion that searchers are much faster and smarter and diligent than a two year old and that first night, if truly he had only been gone for one hour, he would have been found in those woods.

 

[bowler]

I saw a comment or two about Mom on the couple of Facebook posts that I posted upthread. However, they are not something we can reference here.

Yes...I am reading those now. Relationship issues for sure.

 

[borndem]

dbm

 

[ab01]

And I’m positive if little kH left on foot from that house, dogs would have picked up his scent.

Linked story upthread says they checked every square inch and never got a single scent hit

I don’t think there’s any way he walked away.

I just can’t imagine a scenario where he just walked off

And I don’t believe the sheriff can either

Jmo

 

[borndem]

I was trying to find if there was sinkholes in KY and read the below

Kentucky is one of the most famous karst areas in the world, which literally means "rocky ground." “Between the limestone and the dolomite, about half the state is underlain by the soluble rock, said Currens. Underground water sources eat away at the rock, creating a void and eventually leading to a collapse

Oh, that makes me shake. I was not aware of that kind of dynamic in that area.
Please, not that. If so, he may well never be found. But still, why stop looking -- has this ever happened in that area before?

 

[ab01]

And I’m positive if little kH left on foot from that house, dogs would have picked up his scent.

Linked story upthread says they checked every square inch and never got a single hit

I don’t think there’s any way he walked away.

I just can’t imagine a scenario where he just walked off

And I don’t believe the sheriff can either

Jmo

Replied to add:

Likely didn’t walk off

No amber alert

What else is there....

 

[Hippononymous]

"When they realized he was missing, they started looking for him, then called the South Magoffin Volunteer Fire Department, whose members helped search for the child for approximately half an hour before calling 911."

Missing toddler in Gunlock | Salyersville Independent

30 minutes is an insane amount of time to wait before calling 911, IMO. My 3 year old daughter went missing once and I think I called 911 within 5 minutes, maybe even 3, and even that felt like an eternity!!

 

[Trudie]

Where is Mom?Kenneth disappeared on Mother's day. I would lose my freaking mind.
MOO.

She probably has. Speaking publicly isn’t going to help.
Jmo

Do we know about the mother? Does she live there? Was she home when he disappeared? All the articles mention the father, but I haven’t seen one word about the boy’s mother. I’m sure I’ve missed it! TIA

I think there’s a reason she’s keeping a low profile. Actually, they both are.

I just don’t think it was physically possible for him to make it up those hills.

. Agree. He’s a diaper wearing clumsy not yet two year old, not a Sherpa.

 

[borndem]

Trudie said: ↑
This will be my last child case for a long time. I’m following AJ/Maleah & they are keeping me awake. Not cool.

Yeah, I hear you. I say that everyday.

Mmmmffff. Same thing with me -- I'm here on this one, too.

We taste a lot of vinegar with theses cases, but that one sip of apple juice when one is found healthy and happy, tastes so-o-o good!

 

[Trudie]

30 minutes is an insane amount of time to wait before calling 911, IMO. My 3 year old daughter went missing once and I think I called 911 within 5 minutes, maybe even 3, and even that felt like an eternity!!

See I don’t necessarily think so, he could have been in numerous places right in the yard, they didn’t know until they had a chance to scan the area. Jmo

 

[borndem]

And I’m positive if little kH left on foot from that house, dogs would have picked up his scent.

Linked story upthread says they checked every square inch and never got a single scent hit

I don’t think there’s any way he walked away.

I just can’t imagine a scenario where he just walked off

And I don’t believe the sheriff can either

Jmo

bbm
The dogs, the dogs, the dogs. That's the one thing that ties my stomach in knots.
Well-trained scent dogs are truly amazing. They are trained to find people in water; under concrete (the dogs at various 911 sites were miraculous); in burned-out houses; earthquakes; every kind of situation. Somehow, their noses and brains can "lock-on" to one scent -- like a child's shirt or shoe -- and eliminate all other scents. It's something humans can't hardly comprehend -- this ability dogs have.
The dogs are the thing that makes me SMH and wonder.

 

[borndem]

30 minutes is an insane amount of time to wait before calling 911, IMO. My 3 year old daughter went missing once and I think I called 911 within 5 minutes, maybe even 3, and even that felt like an eternity!!

Exactly -- you can always call back and say, "Never mind, I found him/her and s/he is healthy and fine." Even if they make a trip to check to make sure s/he is okay, I'm sure the EMS walks away smiling and happy to do it.

 

[Stunned]

bbm
The dogs, the dogs, the dogs. That's the one thing that ties my stomach in knots.
Well-trained scent dogs are truly amazing. They are trained to find people in water; under concrete (the dogs at various 911 sites were miraculous); in burned-out houses; earthquakes; every kind of situation. Somehow, their noses and brains can "lock-on" to one scent -- like a child's shirt or shoe -- and eliminate all other scents. It's something humans can't hardly comprehend -- this ability dogs have.
The dogs are the thing that makes me SMH and wonder.

Yes a baby in a diaper would be so trackable! He has not been tracked. I hate how I am feeling about this cutie. In the beginning, I thought he would be found quickly, but now......please, find him!

 

[Stunned]

I am so overwhelmed and tired of these missing baby/ children threads. Hopefully he is lost in the woods. (Sigh) but if he is not, maybe we need the drop off your child here with broader acceptance. Done.... your child is 3 bring it here, we will help! Done,your child is 6, bring it here, no questions! Many parent need to know there is a no judgement here, just help. Reunification, if you have not already hurt your child sure! We will help. Not just with joking parental classes, but life skills! Learn a trade, build your home. Support the good parents!

 

[mtnlites]

Given the described terrain etc. I cannot imagine that a 22 month old was able to get away so fast and so far in such a short amount of time that he cannot now be located. I am aware anything is possible and there is always that exception but I just do not see it, especially once darkness set in, hopefully I will be proven wrong. I still am concerned about the statement made earlier today suggesting there are circumstances that just cannot be talked about right now...something like that.

If a 22 month old clearly and surely wandered off what would there be that "cannot be talked about"? And like others here have mentioned, why call off a search so early in the game, although I do know they have resumed searching from the sounds of it.

I think possibly the search has resumed so that it can be confirmed and demonstrated that a thorough search did take place and that a huge effort was put into attempting to locate the little boy and that he simply is/was not in the surrounding woods and therefore one of two things happened, an abduction or something more nefarious.

I am sitting on both hands. I truly, moo, believe that if this little guy had wandered off into the woods at the time he reportedly did searchers would have located him by now, that first night. One may think about how fast this little boy perhaps ran off and "got away" but I am of the opinion that searchers are much faster and smarter and diligent than a two year old and that first night, if truly he had only been gone for one hour, he would have been found in those woods.

Terrain around our house is similar to Magoffin County's Gunlock: mountains, lots of trees, cliffs,etc. Right now the underbrush on the mountains is pretty thick. Poison ivy everywhere, weeds almost as tall as my 7 yo daughter. It's not a jungle out there, for sure, but when we take a walk through the woods and mountains, we leave signs of our walk-grass flattened, sticks broken on the ground, etc. If a kid had wandered off, there would be some sign of it, I feel. Things are growing like crazy right now. If the dogs didn't pick anything up then there would probably at least be some physical sign of walking.

 

[Pax10]

There's actually a group that will do something similar in Kentucky and Indiana, called Orphan Care Alliance (obviously, they also do other things as well). I don't know if it's no questions asked or not. They have a program that isn't fostercare, parents have custody, but the kids live in foster type homes while the parents get their lives together. Parents apparently still visit etc. I don't know much more about it than that, but maybe there's a need for this kind of thing.

One thing giving me hope at this point is that at least there's bbeenno mention of a prior history with DFCS, like in too many other cases lately.

*Sorry, replying to Stunned, I must've hit reply instead of quote.

 

[Rhenish]

I am so overwhelmed and tired of these missing baby/ children threads. Hopefully he is lost in the woods. (Sigh) but if he is not, maybe we need the drop off your child here broader. Done.... your child is 3 bring it here, we will help! Done your child is 6, bring it here, no questions! Many parent need to know there is a no judge mental help. Reunification, if you have not already hurt your child sure! We will help. Not just with joking parental classes, but life skills! Learn a trade, build your home. Support the good parents!

I hear what you are saying. The system needs to change because it is not effective and really does nothing, hence all these missing children stories ending in tragedy and typically at the hand of a parent or family member that is "under watch". I would say the 1930's and 40's were way ahead of the ballgame with regard to protecting children, the pendulum has clearly swung from one extreme to the other. Children are our future and part of our current society and for the best interest of them foremost, and for the rest of humanity secondly they need protection whether we like it or accept it or not. We are all a united and collective community and have to protect ourselves and others for the greater good of all, and that protection has to start with the youngest and most vulnerable of beings.

 

[Trudie]

Hopefully he is lost in the woods. (Sigh) but if he is not,

If he’s in the woods, I doubt he’s in real good shape by now, 48+ hours later. Jmo

Curious what y’all think?
Did he walk away & manage to keep on going?
Or is there more to this story?

 

[mtnlites]

I don't recall a search for a lost baby being called off for more INFO before unless it had been days and days with nothing found and you assume it's because fatigue has set into searchers and they've already looked ' everywhere'. So what gives here? Is this a tiny, poor, rural area that maybe cannot afford to spend anymore on this search? Nothing else makes sense, except a suspicion of foul play. Even with foul play, the baby has to be found. Head scratcher.

A tiny, rural, poor county? Yes. Not enough budget to keep looking? No. My family has been part of many of these searches and my husband works for the state rescue unit. Many of the people who belong to the county's rescue squad are volunteers. If they they stop the search it's because they received information that led them to believe that the child would not be found in that area, but would be found elsewhere. And it would have to be actual evidence or information, not just someone's hunch or a theory. Now that they've resumed the search but broadened the parameter, it's most likely because they've received additional information that's led them to believe that there's a reason why he might be further out. IMO it's a recovery at this point, not a rescue.