Missing 3-Year-Old Nevada County Boy Found

NEVADA COUNTY (CBS13) –- A 3-year-old boy missing overnight was found safe in Nevada County on Thursday morning.

Search crews were scouring a remote area of Nevada County around the small town of Washington looking for the missing boy when a timber worker, Barry Sieler, spotted Davyn Wilkison on Alpha Loop Road at 10:15 a.m. Thursday about a mile from his home.

"I heard a cry and then I started crying," Sieler said of the emotional rescue.

It wasn't immediately clear where exactly Davyn spent the night, but he was unharmed and just dirty. He was checked out by medical staff and then released to his parents.

"I cried," Davyn told CBS13's Nick Janes. "I sleep in the dirt."

"It was scary, very scary," Davyn's father, Jason Wilkison said. "It was a roller-coaster of emotion. You lose hope and then get back hope again."

Jason said he was alerted that his son was safe by cries of joy from the town members below. The Wilkison's home is on a hill about a mile above the small town of about 200 close-knit residents.

"I found out by the town whoppin' and hollerin' and then we whopped and hollered back," he said.

Nevada County Sheriff's Department spokesman Brian Condon said Davyn was last seen at 2 p.m. on Wednesday. He was being looked after by an uncle while his parents were at work. Davyn apparently wandered off with the family dog after he went with his three brothers into town for sodas. The dog eventually came back, but Davyn did not.

The family called the sheriff's office at 5:23 p.m. to report him missing.

Search crews were concerned because Davyn was only wearing a T-shirt, jeans and white tennis shoes when he went missing and temperatures have been cold overnight, dropping into the high 40s.

The town is located on the banks of the South Fork of the Yuba River about 20 minutes east of Nevada City. The area is heavily wooded.

"He survived the night in the woods by himself," said his mother, Harmony.