LINCOLN COUNTY, Mo. – A 2-year-old child was found safe after wandering off into the woods on Tuesday. 

A search team from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and Missouri State Highway Patrol spent an hour and a half looking for the child. At one point, a corporal spotted an important clue. 

“That’s somebody’s footprint. That’s a dog print,” he could be heard saying on body camera video released by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office. 

Deputy Brock Rumple and his partner, K9 Nicky, were called in to help navigate the area that was covered with water, rock, tall grass and dense woods. 

On top of the difficult terrain, the sun was starting to set and rain was moving into the area. Rumple and Nicky had also just finished training together fewer than 10 days ago. They had worked fewer than five shifts together. 

“I just trusted the dog, trusted the training and just knew that if I kept going with him, if I kept reading him and watching him, he was going to take me where we needed to go,” Rumple said. 

Nicky sniffed the footprints and followed the trail for about 10 minutes when Rumple heard crying. 

“That’s crying! That’s a kid crying!” Someone was heard yelling on body camera video.  

The boy had been found 700 yards away from his home, still with his family dogs. It took the search team about 40 minutes to find him.  

“It’s really amazing, really rewarding to watch that and watch it succeed, to know that I put in a lot of work, but he’s put in even more than I have,” Rumple said. 

FOX 2 talked with the boy’s grandparents, who said they were eternally grateful to law enforcement. 

The child’s grandmother brought treats to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office this week as well as a gift card for K9 Nicky to go pick out some new toys.