Madison County Sheriff David Lewis said the parents did nothing wrong and there is no criminal investigation. Adam Childers works an overnight shift and was sleeping at home Monday morning. The child’s mother was watching him, but was briefly distracted by a phone call.

“It can happen to anyone,” Lewis said.

Mary Jane Savage, 60, was in her home when she heard Halpin yelling out that he had found the boy alive. She brought Joshua into the kitchen, put him in the sink to wash off the mud and dirt, then wrapped him in a blanket and asked him if he wanted anything to eat or drink. He wanted milk.

Savage asked, “My goodness, Joshua, what have you been doing?”

“I took a hike,” he told her.

“I said, ’You sure did.”’