Good Samaritan Rescues 3-Year-Old in Bitter Cold at 2 A.M.

A 3-year-old boy who walked off from his home in Saint Paul in subzero temperatures Sunday was rescued thanks to a good Samaritan. Police say they boy is going to be OK.

Authorities told the Star Tribune that the incident was the result of "terrible" miscommunication:

Just after 2 a.m. Sunday, officers responded to a call of a child outside in the cold and not properly dressed, spokesman Steve Linders said. A 49-year-old woman had seen the boy, dressed in a stocking cap, pajamas and boots, shivering in the cold in the middle of the street and trying to get into the Roosevelt Community Center on Ames Avenue. The temperature was about 14 below zero, with a windchill of 33 below.

While one officer followed the ambulance to Regions, the other stayed behind to try to find the boy's parents. A short time later, the boy's mother, frantic with worry, showed up at the scene. She told the officer the boy's father was watching him but had to leave. The parents were talking on their cellphones, but the mother's battery died, Linders said.

Read more at the Star Tribune.

Image via Minnesota Department of Transportation