If you ask a parent what his or her worst nightmare is, what do you think would be the answer? It would obviously be terrible things, a harm or accident happening to their kids. A parent is constantly filled with the need to keep their child safe and sound. There is nothing more frightening for a loving parent then when they see their kids in trouble. How would you feel if your kid got lost? It gets incredibly difficult when you lose something precious. And for a parent, nothing is as precious as their child. So when Kaydon Leach’s parents found him missing, they rightfully freaked out...
When you ask a loving mother or a dad what their biggest fear would be, they would certainly tell you that they fear anything bad would happen to their children. We have said that it is definitely a parent's worst nightmare to find out that their kid is lost. Kaydon Leach's parents adore their young boy. And judging from his face who wouldn't? He was a sweet and charismatic young boy.
When Kaydon Leach’s parents realized that their six-year-old son could not be found anywhere, they panicked. When he went missing in April 2018, it seemed as though all their worries came true. They were terrified of the mere thought of them never seeing him again. They were so shocked to realize that their missing boy could not be traced at all, that they had been so careless with him.
Kaydon Leach was a sweet and active young boy, who was cherished by all his family members and friends. He was always adventurous and would love being outdoors. As a young, healthy boy, it was not a big surprise to see that he had been involved in some harmless mischief like any other six years old. He was also a lover of the wild, he adored animals. He had a close bond with his black-and-white terrier pal named Chula.
The Leach family were residing in a community called Top of the World. If you haven't heard of this, it is actually located in Blount County, Tennessee. This is where Kaydon would run around and have the time of his life. His parents allowed him to run wild on the outside as long but always made sure that he never went away too far. He likes playing around so they saw no fault in that.
So on the night of Monday, April 23, 2018, a tragic incident took place. When Kaydon’s parents grew a little worried that their little boy had not come back after 6 p.m, they still did not expect anything bad to happen. His mom and dad were pretty sure that he was just having fun and playing in and around the house compound. But as time went on, he still did not return. So that started to alarm them...
The parents initially believed that Kaydon was just nearby their house. They did not expect that their sweet boy would actually wander off far away from home. They waited and waited but they ultimately had to call upon the help of Blount County Sheriff, James Lee Berrong. They could not risk the safety of their dear son. Since it was getting chilly and dark, they knew they had to act fast. He did not even have a coat or sweater on...
Since Kaydon's parents did not want to waste to spread the word about their missing baby boy, the County Sheriff enlisted help straight away. They were right to have called upon him for help as he knew how to handle emergency situations like this one. Usually, it would take about 24 hours until a missing person alert can be filed. However, this community where Kaydon belongs is small and tight, so there was no issue.
Kaydon’s mother and father could not keep still knowing that their darling son was lost out there somewhere. He did not even have a coat to keep himself warm which made his mother especially concerned. The Sheriff did not wish to let them believe that the worst had happened. He wanted to make sure his parents were not freaking out too much yet. He did all that he could to give the Leachs any type of relief he could find.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation after receiving the missing child case then announced a child endangerment alert that evening by the time it was 7 p.m. Then the reporting Sheriff Office made a detailed description of Kaydon to hopefully get people to notice him. It would be of great help as the locals who had not even met Kaydon might be able to spot him using this information.
Kaydon's features and characteristics were given nicely his parents to the officers in charge. They told them that he weighed 60 pounds (27 kg), and was about 4 feet tall, with brown hair and blue eyes. The parents also informed the Sheriff that Kaydon had worn his gray sweatpants, a black T-shirt, and slip-on shoes during the time he went missing. Hopefully this information proved to be helpful...
The Sheriff then started a search and rescue mission taking some assistance from military Blackhawk helicopter that was from a close by McGhee Tyson Airbase. His parents were already worried sick about their young boy so he knew he had to hurry up and be quick. So then the lookout for little Kaydon quickly commenced. Just then Lee Berrong got a phone call coming from Kaydon Leach’s parents.
The helicopter flew over the skies scouring every corner to see if there was a trace of Kaydon anywhere. There was also a search and rescue team that was doing the heavy ground operation. So many people joined in the search for the lost boy, where 100 first responders took over a remote mountainous terrain of 2,000 acres. Since it was already getting dark, will they be able to find the poor boy before night fell?
So the ground team included the FBI, TBI (Tennessee Bureau of Information), Blount County Sheriff’s Department, Blount County Fire Department, Blount County Search, and Rescue Team. Even the Blount County Chief Deputy Jeff French took an active part in this search for the lost boy. All these people were divided into groups to peeked in every nook and cranny just in case Kaydon was there...
Marian O’Briant who is actually the spokeswoman for the Blount County Sheriff’s Office, informed in an interview she gave to WVLT News that with the help of the military, the ground search teams would be able to look for Kaydon the whole night. They were willing to do everything if it meant they would find out Kaydon’s whereabouts. However, this does not mean that there were no other people searching elsewhere.
The local community when they heard about Kaydon’s disappearance quickly jumped in to help his parents find them. The Blount County Emergency Services broadcast an IPAWS (Integrated Public Alert & Warning System) message that was meant to somehow help in this widespread search for the missing boy. It happened just a few hours later so that they could inform everyone about the case and its updates...
By the time the local community members read the message that had been broadcast, they knew very well that this was not the time to just loiter around. A young boy's life was hanging by a thread as his parents do not even know where he is. Anything could happen to him. After realizing that this could happen to their kids or their grandkids, they felt emotional so they wanted to help right away.
So the Blount County community then received the IPAWS message. The word about the little boy soon circulated via a smartphone application called Next Door. If you do not know this, it is a private social network for neighborhoods where information and news can be spread effectively. Even though there were some who could not help individually with Kaydon Leach's search, they did all they could too...
The whole community is very close, were committed to locating Kaydon no matter how long it took. One of the people who volunteered to help look for him explained to the WVLT News: “We’re a very tight community. We try to help everyone. I got a phone call about what was going on. I was coming up the mountain from work and just shot straight over and did everything I could to help.”
So there was one person who was from the neighborhood’s residents named Megan Kessler. Upon hearing the news regarding little Kaydon's disappearance, she made it a point, promising to herself that she would launch her own initiative to join in this search. She was willing to be a rescue volunteer and join the emergency teams with food and water. She was on board.
“We knew it was going to be a long night,” she later spoke to WVLT News, talking about what exactly took place during the time everyone in the community looked for the lost boy. “We brought coffee, chili, whatever they needed. We wanted to make sure we could supply it. They wouldn’t let us search, so we did what we could.” Since they were not allowed to look on their own, they found other ways to be of help.
So the news about the lost boy had been spread by everyone that knew about it. There was a Facebook post that had been released by the Tennessee Endangered Child Alert. The post that had been posted by WBIR Channel 10, had with it a photo and description of Kaydon Leach and the events that took place then. It went to get over 2,000 shares and with over 350 reactions. This must be a good sign, right?
The rescue team, the search party and all of the local volunteers did all that they could to locate the little boy. But their efforts seemed to be futile. Kaydon still remained lost and moreover, the day was getting dark and the night was soon falling. Authorities feared that Kaydon might get a respiratory infection if he was not discovered soon. He did not have a sweater on. The cold weather was a big concern for his family.
The search that took place happened at about half-mile radius from Kaydon Leach’s home. They had to wait for the sum to come up if they were going to search through the rural and mountainous surrounding area. Naturally, Leachs were counting second until they could be reunited with their baby. They were so scared and blamed themselves if anything bad happened to him. They were about to be very surprised...
Blount County’s community was a good example of how a dedicated and tight community works. All the members were involved and everyone helped the rescue teams. Even the ones who cannot wander around took the initiative to hand out food and water to the other volunteers. They were not about to give up hope on the little boy just yet. They knew Kaydon was still out there and were not willing to stop just yet.
So as soon as the sun rose, it became a little better for the people who were still searching for Kaydon. Since it was in the daylight, there was more clarity. This, however, did not take away from the fact that it was a huge challenge to find him. The search team thought p up of new and better ways to hopefully find this young boy. His parents feared that he might be feeling lonely, scared and hungry...
The search then searched for Kaydon in and around the lake. There was a chance that he may have fallen in or drowned. There was no evidence of this though. As the search party looked for Kaydon on the ground, the Blackhawk helicopter was still busy in the air. They looked through the mountainsides and even in old buildings just in case Kaydon was hiding in one of those buildings to protect himself.
The morning was soon turning to noon and still, Kaydon Leach proved to be missing. Since the community was peaceful, the chance of a terrible thing happening to the boy was slightly unlikely. It also did not make a lot of sense because Kaydon never disobeyed his parents nor did he ever run too far from the surrounding areas where he was allowed to play. There was something off...
The rescue volunteers tried to mimic the mindset of the six-year-old boy. Where would Kaydon go if he did not go home that day? They had to think like a child and get into the mind-frame of a 6-year-old adventurous boy. They then tried looking for him in the old building and deeper into the wood where they had not searched before. This was actually a progress in the search for the little lost boy.
The search team soon found themselves near the Top of the World community after looking through the corners of the nearby area. If Kaydon was not found there, they were beginning to run out of options. The afternoon was slowly taking over, which meant the people had to rush with the search once again. Time did not wait for them so they had to be quick. Then, a noise came from the woods...
So it had been over 22 hours since Kaydon Leach had been declared lost. The rescue teams now had something to look into. They heard a growl which they followed. As they walked on, the sound grew louder and stronger. They had a guess that it sounded like a dog's growl. But since they were there in the woods, who could tell where the sound came from? It could have been any other wild animal...
The people looking for the boy suddenly spotted Kaydon after following the source of the growl in the woods. They found him at about just over a mile's distance from his home. Just as they suspected, he had not wandered too far from their house. He must have been traumatized to the point where he was unable to move. He was not actually alone to everyone's surprise!
Kaydon Leach after an extensive search was finally spotted at 3:30 p.m., which was around 22 hours since he had been pronounced missing. It turns out, the loud growl was actually his pet terrier, the faithful Chula. “The dog growled at the rescuers when they approached Kaydon, so the dog is a protector,” revealed BCSO Chief Deputy Jeff French. He was truly a guardian angel who was there for little Kaydon.
Kaydon did not look to be his best self during the time he got discovered. He had to be questioned as to how he felt. He just answered, “Very cold.” Since he had on him gray sweatpants and a black T-shirt, his skin had gone very cold. The cold night was too much to bear for him. They asked the boy where he was from just to be sure. He gave them his address and then took him back. He and his pup both needed medical attention quickly.
The people who ended up finding Kaydon felt that it would be wiser to take him to the Blount Memorial Hospital for an immediate medical checkup. They had to be certain he was not suffering from hypothermia or health issues. His family was so glad to learn that little Kaydon was alright, that they could finally be together once again. His mom and dad were shocked that Chula had become such a faithful dog.
His family finally gave out a public statement after their precious boy found his way back home once again. They did not disclose any information about his medical health but were quick to give praise and thanks to the rescue teams and local volunteers. “We’re so thankful to everyone, from local law enforcement agencies to volunteers, who helped us find Kaydon. The amount of support we have received has been tremendous, even from people we don’t even know. We appreciate all our friends and neighbors, and ask for privacy at this time,” his Kaydon’s parents expressed.
Since social media played a part in the search, it was only right that the celebration took place there too. “So glad he was found safe,” was a comment on Facebook. One other well-wisher wrote the he “had the little guy on my mind since I found out he was lost. Something he can tell his grandkids, thank God.” They were wall glad to learn about the fact the little Kaydon was with Chula all along too...
The Top of the World community as a whole had been traumatized for about 22 hours. They could all breathe once again after learning about his rescue. Since little Kaydon in a way represented each and every one of their kids, they could all empathize with his parents. The amount of relief that everybody felt was almost tangible. Kaydon being found was indeed a prayer of theirs that was answered.
The sheriff had been a very important person in this search for the boy. He told the local TV and expressed with emotion, “I want to thank all these men and women who spent the last 20 something hours out here in the dark, the cold, and the rain,” he added, “We had the FBI, TBI, Blount County Sheriff’s Department, Blount County Fire Department, Blount County Rescue Squad. It was a team effort and we couldn’t have done it without the help.”
The sheriff announced his gratitude to the deputy officer, Daniel Self because he helped Chula the dog. He was the one who quickly gave the pup water and some food. People were all happy to see that Chula was right there next to his master while he had to stay outside in the night while being looked for by his whole community. The bond between them proved to so strong and Chula was indeed a hero.
The Top of the World community in Tennessee was overjoyed and in a celebratory mood when they found that Kaydon was found that fateful Tuesday afternoon. It was indeed the best news that they could have hoped for. It was truly something that everyone in the community had wished for so obviously they all joined in the happiness.