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Lost Alabama boy with Down syndrome kept warm in woods by puppies

It's the stuff good news stories are made of: "Lost boy kept warm by puppies."

Ten-year-old Kyle Camp of Hackleberg, Alabama, was lost in the woods for 18 hours after wandering away from his home mid-afternoon on Tuesday.

Over 150 residents of his small town and surrounding communities left their homes and jobs to search for the boy with Down syndrome.

Police believe the boy got lost after following the family dog and her four puppies for a mile and a half into a heavily treed woods.

Jamie Swinney, owner of Bo's Restaurant, found the boy "wet, shivering and shoeless in a creek" early the next morning — and credits Camp's family's dog and her four puppies for helping rescue the boy.

"I knew if anyone was going to find the boy it was going to be the mother of the puppies and I all I had to do was follow the mother dog," Swinney told NBC News. "She had been barking and running along and I took off after her."

"Those puppies kept him company, they kept him warm and comfortable," Swinney added. "We don't know what would have happened to him had the puppies not been with him. And credit goes to the mother dog for leading me to the boy."

Camp's mother, Rosemarie, spoke of the rescue to WAFF: "It's the most happy feeling in the world, just realizing that I just got a little tiny taste of what so many parents have went through. I'm just so fortunate."

Camp was treated for minor scrapes and bruises at a nearby hospital. On Thursday, Kyle was given a Project Lifesaver, a device designed to help track people with wandering tendencies, WAFF reports.

"It's amazing we could all come together like this," Camp's brother, Chris Bailey, told WAFF. "It was amazing how many people came together to look, because we couldn't have gotten it all on our own. It's just amazing the community is that close to each other."

A rescue searcher from the community agreed:

"It actually shows how great the community is. Everybody can pull together and come as one just to make sure one is found, I mean the community is great. I love Hackleburg," Joshua James added.