11/06/09 - 06:14 PM
The baby found after a five day search is safe with care-givers but the Washington County Sheriff is still getting over the emotional search for what he calls their “Miracle Baby.”
Washington County Sheriff Bobby Haddock says they were preparing themselves for the worst. He says statistics say after the first three hours of a child’s disappearance, the chances of finding the child alive are only about 30 percent, so when they heard the news after five days, he couldn’t believe it.
“She’s a miracle, she’s an absolute miracle,” Sheriff Haddock says. “When someone came and said they found the child we though they… we were so tired, we thought they were playing a joke to being with, and we all seen how serious he was so we all ran into the house.”
He says boxes and other items stacked throughout the home of Shannon’s step-aunt Susan Baker are the reason it took about two hours of searching for them to find baby Shannon.
“The box was pushed way back up under a bed. Matter-of-fact he had to get down on the floor and reach back and pull that box out to him to where he could pull it out and look inside. And then he got the surprise of his life.”
The sheriff says he learned later that the cedar box Shannon was in was closed and did not have any air holes.
“She’s a miracle. God took care of that child and that child has a purpose in life. Whatever that purpose may be down the road, I hope I live long enough to see it.”
The sheriff says he loves kids. He says although he has two of his own who are grown, he also likes to spoil the children and grandchildren of the members of his staff. He even has pictures of them all over his office, with the same look of pride he had when he showed baby Shannon to the public for the first time after she was found alive.
“Even though I held the baby in the picture and even though Kenny Brock found the child, it was a team effort.”
The sheriff says when they got Shannon to the hospital the doctors and nurses were astonished they had found her alive and couldn’t believe that she had no serious health problems after being kept closed in a box for 12 hours.