GRIMES COUNTY, Texas — A desperate three-day search for Christopher Ramirez ended after the 3-year-old Grimes County boy was found safe, the sheriff's office confirmed.
Photos taken Saturday show the child being reunited with his mother.
Video of Sheriff Don Sowell and EquuSearch's Tim Miller above is from KHOU 11's sister station, KAGS-TV.
Grimes County Sheriff Don Sowell said Christopher was found in a wooded area in the 7700 block FM 1486 after authorities got a call about 11:15 a.m. from a resident. He said it's a little ways from the search area, but they were expanding efforts to that location.
Sowell said Christopher appears to be in good health. He said the toddler's mother was with him while he was checked out by paramedics.
"He's drinking lots of water, but he's good," Sowell said. "He's alive, laughing, cutting up, crying. His mom is crying. He's in good shape."
Christopher vanished into the woods about 2 p.m. Wednesday. Investigators with the Grimes County Sheriff's Office responded to Deer Park Lane in the Foxfire subdivision in Plantersville within 9 minutes of the call for help.
The child's mother said her son disappeared shortly after they got back home from running errands. She said he was playing with their dog and ran after him away from the house. The dog came back, but Christopher didn't.
"In my 52 years of law enforcement I've never seen [search efforts] this detailed," Sowell said. "Hardly no clues to go on, we were running on prayers, four-wheel drive and overdrive to be honest with you because we had nothing else. We had nothing else."
The effort to find Christopher involved multiple agencies, including Texas EquuSearch and FBI Houston, as well as dozens of volunteers combing the wooded area outside the family's home and residences in the subdivision.
It was a difficult mission, possibly the most challenging case Texas EquuSearch had ever seen, as few to no calls came into the tip line.
“In my 21 years with EquuSearch, this is only the second time when we had a child like this. Today, this morning, sheriff, honestly, I gave up," Texas EquuSearch founder Tim Miller said. "But God works amazing, I got goosebumps. He works amazing. To see him and to hear that loud cry, sheriff, it was just unbelievable."
According to the sheriff, there are no signs of foul play.
A team of investigators looked into the possibility of any criminal issues in relation to the disappearance of Christopher. As of Friday afternoon, the family, immediate and extended, has been excluded as any persons of interest.