Michigan parents, Myhia Perez and Domonic Peake, have their dog to thank for leaving a trail of his paw prints to their 2 year old son, Princeton, who had been missing for several hours. Police followed the trail to find Princeton in a muddy, wooded area almost a mile away. Sheriff Daniel Abbott said the family’s pit-boxer mix, Apollo, had stayed by Princeton’s side, aiding officials looking for the boy.
“Without those dog tracks, without being able to track him for a half a mile in a muddy field, we wouldn’t have had a good direction of travel of where that boy went,” Abbott said.
“I owe it to my dog, because if my son was alone who knows what could have happened,” Peake said.
Van Buren County authorities returned Princeton Peake to his parents, he had no diaper on and was covered in scratches and bug bites, but was otherwise unharmed. The boy had escaped from his locked home in Paw Paw early Wednesday. Princeton’s mother woke up that morning to find her son missing from the bedroom and saw that the front door was unlocked. His father searched the property in a panic. Their home is surrounded by cornfields, woods and swamps. After only finding their son’s sippy cup, the couple were terrified that they would never see their son again.
“First thing I thought was he’s face down in some water,” Peake said. “I thought I was never going to see him again.”
“I about died,” Perez said.
Princeton is healthy and recovering at home. Two new locks have added to the family’s front door as of Friday, secure and out of Princeton’s reach.
Apollo had dog food and treats delivered to him by Sheriff Abbott on Friday.
