Baby Kayden via Facebook.
In the Justice section of CNN is a short but amazing video report on a rescue mission with a miraculous ending.
Kayden is a name that means “spirited” or “fighter.” That’s a good word to describe 6-day-old baby Kayden Powell from Wisconsin. Kayden caused a panic in his family after he went missing last week. On February 7, Kayden’s 18-year-old mom Brianna Marshall called 911 when she woke up around 4:30am and noticed that her baby was missing from his bassinet.
The baby’s aunt, Kristin Smith, was visiting the family Wednesday night and left early Thursday to head to Colorado, where she resides. She was reached by police and taken into custody on an unrelated outstanding warrant and later questioned. Police found baby clothes in her car but no baby. Forty officers from federal, state, and local agencies were working on the case to find Kayden.
Miraculously, a day later, on February 7, Kayden was found alive and well. He was wrapped in blankets in a tote bag outside a nearby gas station in West Branch, Iowa. In a press conference, Steven Kopp, police chief for the town of Beloit, said, “Despite frigid temperatures, Kayden was found alive and appears to be doing very well. In the words of EMS officials, he is in excellent health.” The FBI’s acting special agent in Milwaukee expressed his gratitude for Kayden’s well-being, saying: “We’re all very fortunate this baby is alive.” I’m sure none are more fortunate than his mother Brianna and father Bruce Powell.
Kristin Smith. via Cedar County Sheriff’s Office.
Kristin Smith has now been charged with federal kidnapping in the case.
In the beginning of the CNN video clip, a reporter states, “This baby was 6 days old, not 6 months old. How amazing is it that this baby had that kind of stamina to withstand being outside for however long it was?” “Amazingly resilient”, the officer said. “It’s cases like this, it’s days like today that most of us do what we do. We were able to celebrate with you the safe recovery of this child, it’s miraculous.”
I’m encouraged by the officers who did their best to get baby Kayden home. I’m glad he’s out of the frigid cold and in the loving arms of his parents.
