A small child in pajamas and no shoes was found walking into the road on County Road 450 — and the story only gets stranger from there.
At around 4:30 PM, deputies responded to a heart-stopping call about a toddler spotted in the middle of the roadway, barefoot and barely tall enough to see over a steering wheel. According to the concerned caller, the child walked right into traffic as he and his wife were heading to dinner in Ashland, Kentucky.
The man says he got out of his vehicle, escorted the blonde-haired boy to a nearby home with an open front door, and called out — but no one answered. The child walked inside on his own. With no one else in sight, the Good Samaritan shut the door, locked it, and drove off, only to be haunted by the situation all through dinner.
“I just couldn’t stop thinking — what if that wasn’t even his house?” the man later told authorities. He returned to the scene, took photos of the house and the car in the driveway, and called the sheriff.
But when deputies arrived and spoke with the family, it turned into a classic case of “he said, they said.”
The family insisted the child — described by the uncle as “never having left the house” — had been with them the whole time. In fact, the uncle boldly suggested the whole story must have been made up.
Deputies weren’t buying it.
Officers checked the house and found the boy asleep inside. A crack team from Lawrence County Children’s Services was notified and will be following up with the family. Meanwhile, deputies also canvassed nearby security cameras, but no footage of the child in the road was found.
Still, the caller provided a written statement and photos, and the case has now been sent to prosecutors for review.
🍼 PSA for Parents & Caregivers:
- Always keep doors secured when children are in the home.
- If someone reports your child was outside alone — take it seriously, not personally.
- Kids are fast. Accidents happen. The key is prevention — and honesty.
