Abandoned ‘miracle baby’ found alive on US highway after brother’s death, mother’s arrest

A Louisiana sheriff says a one-year-old “miracle baby” survived two days of sometimes stormy weather before a truck driver spotted him crawling along a roadside the day after his four-year-old brother was found dead and his mother was arrested in Mississippi.

Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Gary “Stitch” Guillory said the baby had numerous bug bites but otherwise appeared to be in good condition.

Autopsy reports were pending on the four-year-old who was found on Monday, Guillory said during a news conference on Tuesday in Lake Charles, about 322 kilometres west of New Orleans.

The body had been found in a lake behind an Interstate 10 welcome centre near the Texas state line.

Authorities investigating the four-year-old’s death learned that he had last been seen on Saturday with his mother, Aaliyah Jack, 25, of Lake Charles, and the one-year-old.

Fearing the one-year-old was dead, authorities prepared on Tuesday morning to search the water where the dead child was found.

Then a truck driver called 911 after spotting the baby.

“We look at this one-year old as our miracle baby because he was still alive,” a visibly moved Guillory said.

Hurricane Beryl had struck east Texas early on Monday, and the search for the child played out amid bands of intermittent, heavy rain and high wind gusts.

“This kid spent two days out in the weather on the side of the highway,” Guillory said.

“Thank God that trucker seen him.”

An alert for law enforcement agencies was issued for Jack on Monday night, and a Louisiana judge issued a warrant for her arrest.

Jack was arrested in Meridian, Mississippi, more than 563 kilometres from where her children were found.

Meridian police said she was arrested some time on Tuesday.

“She was located in Mississippi, without the one-year-old, by the Meridian Police Department and taken into custody,” the Calcasieu Sheriff’s Office said.

The search for the baby continued until the trucker reported seeing a baby in a ditch along Interstate 10.

“When deputies arrived, they were able to positively identify the child as the missing one-year-old,” the sheriff’s news release said.

She was to be extradited to Louisiana, where she faced a charge of failure to report a missing child.

The judge who issued the warrant set bond at $US300,000 ($443,000), Guillory said.

Kayla Vincent, a spokeswoman for the sheriff, said no other charges were pending as of today and that the investigation was continuing.

Online booking records were not available.

It was unclear if Jack had an attorney who could comment on her behalf.