Video shows missing Elmore County boy, 3, reunited with father

ELMORE COUNTY, Ala. (WSFA) - Video shows the emotional reuniting of a father and his young son hours after the boy went missing in the woods of Elmore County.

Officials say 3-year-old Zachary Rutherford, who went missing Monday night, was found Tuesday morning after an extensive search.

Elmore County Sheriff Bill Franklin said the child was found safe in the wood line by the search and rescue team. Carried out of the area on an ATV, a camera was rolling when the boy and his father were brought together again.

Franklin said Zachary was reported missing after he wandered off from a home in the Tallassee area around 7:30 p.m. with the family’s yellow lab. The dog later returned without the boy.

The search area spanned about five miles east of Wetumpka on Tallassee Highway. Wetumpka and Santuck Fire Departments began searching the area on foot. Search dogs were brought in from Birmingham and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s aviation unit searched from above with its helicopter.

Part of Tallassee Highway was closed for the search but later reopened.

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