Authorities may not have all the details yet on what happened to 4-year-old Phenix Wilkerson, the Alabama youngster who was found in the woods after going missing for nearly three days. But everyone involved seems to agree on at least one thing: God had a hand in the situation.
“As I was getting closer to him, my heart started rushing so that’s how I knew I was getting close,’’ said Markeith Williams, who is being credited for finding the boy. “I knew it was God with me.”
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Mr. Williams noted that he was planning to go to church on Sunday even though his wife had spent the weekend urging him to volunteer in the search with her. But when he woke up on Sunday, God had put it on his heart to go — and he’s so grateful that he did.
“I was doing that,’’ he said, “because God sent me to do that.”
Mr. Williams isn’t the only one praising God for the boy’s safe return. Barbour County Sheriff Tyrone Smith admitted that the outcome could have been very different.
“I would not be truthful if I told you that me and many others were probably thinking and looking for another result, but thank God it didn’t happen and I’m glad we got the result that we do have,” Sheriff Smith said. “There’s a lot of questions that we still need answers to. Thankfully, he was found alive and safe but our investigation will continue until we get some answers to some of those questions that we still have.”
The search and rescue efforts, as well as the resulting investigation into what happened to Phenix from the time he went missing near his grandmother’s home in Clayton, Alabama, are all the more difficult considering the boy is non-verbal autistic. Regardless, “every effort” was made to locate Phenix with the help of law enforcement agencies and first responders, as well as volunteers like Mr. Williams.
“None of this would have been possible without these individuals, these agencies, and volunteers,” Smith said. “We’d like to thank the churches for preparing breakfast, lunch and dinner. All of that is from the volunteers and none of that could have been successful without each and every one of them.”
Phenix’s grandparents echoed the sheriff’s sentiments, calling their grandson’s safe return a “miracle” that would not have been possible without the selfless efforts of so many of their neighbors.
“I would like to thank each and every person that has been here, that has helped with this search, and most of all I would like to thank the good Lord above for bringing him back to us alive,” said Andy Pittman, Phenix’s grandfather.
“I’m over ecstatic, I am praising God because this is his miracle that he brought this baby home,” added Sandra Yoemans, Phenix’s grandmother. “He’s had so many prayers, thank you everybody for all the prayers and everyone that’s been here to search; this baby is okay.”
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Marissa Mayer is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of professional experience. Her work has been featured in Christian Post, The Daily Signal, and Intellectual Takeout. Mayer has a B.A. in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from Arizona State University.