Officer saves missing 4-year-old autistic child from drowning

SYLVA, N.C. (FOX Carolina) - An officer saved a missing 4-year-old autistic child from drowning, according to the Sylva Police Department.

According to police, the parents of the missing four-year-old called the department to report that their child had wandered away from the home in Sylva and was lost.

The officers along with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and some citizens began searching for the child.

Officer Jacob Waldroup, 2021 Sylva Police Department’s Officer of the Year, was off duty and coming from court when he found out the child was lost, according to police.

Officer Waldroup began searching an area after a resident heard crying near Scott’s Creek.

He later found the boy with water up to his shoulders in the creek and jumped in to rescue him.

Officer Waldroup rescued the boy from the creek and he was taken to the hospital to get checked out.

Police say the child was not harmed.

Copyright 2022 WHNS. All rights reserved.