![](https://happymutt.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/William-Odom-missing-300x187.jpg)
She immediately contacted the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office. They responded promptly and began the intensive search for the missing 2-year-old toddler in and around the Mississippi community. The K-9 Units, helicopters and ATVs (from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks) joined the community volunteers in an intensive search throughout the nearby wooded area. The toddler was nowhere in sight.
The Plot of the Missing Two-yeaar-old Thickens
Thankfully, someone noticed several tiny footprints on the forest floor. Surprisingly, alongside the tiny human prints, there was another set of prints. However, those prints were not human! William was clearly not alone. He was in the company of an animal.
![paw prints](https://happymutt.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/dog-prints-associated-with-William-300x200.jpg)
Police, neighbors, and volunteers searched the woods for hours, but there was no sign of the little boy. But everywhere the two-year-old boy’s footprints were seen, they were accompanied by animal prints. The second set of prints were correctly identified as belonging to a dog.
![ATV search for two-year-old boy](https://happymutt.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/atv-searach-vehicle-video-300x271.jpg)
How Did A Two-year-old Go Missing In The Middle of The Night?
The working assumption was that the two-year-old boy somehow managed to leave the house during the middle of the night while his mother was sleeping. Apparently, he wandered at some point. There was no way to determine how long he had actually been out in the elements, wondering around on his own.
![home of two-year-old boy who yandered awau](https://happymutt.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/williams-house-200x300.jpg)
![crying mom of missing two-year-old boy](https://happymutt.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Williams-crying-mom-300x169.jpg)
Solving The Mystery of the Missing Two-year-old Boy
Hours after William’s disappearance, a 10-year-old boy named Blake Carroll was arriving home from school when he heard the horn beeping from inside his uncle’s old truck. Blake had no idea why the horn would be going off. Simultaneously, Blake noticed a dog circling the truck, desperately trying to get inside. The boy peered through the windshield, and there was William, crying and pressing the horn.
Blake immediately called his uncle for help. He wasn’t sure of the best way to deal with the crying child and the barking dog. Blake and his uncle calmed the crying child and removed him from the old truck.
![mom, emt and two-year-old boy](https://happymutt.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/william-and-mother-reunited-300x169.jpg)
A Complicating Factor In The Search For The Two-year-old Boy
A factor that complicated the search is that William is pretty much nonverbal. He is being evaluated for autism. It is possible that he would not have responded to the searchers calling his name, no matter how close they were to him. The barking of the dog and the blaring of the horn played a huge role in their being able to find William. As you can imagine, his mother was quite emotional and broke into tears as she tightly held her son in her arms.
In spite of Chelsea’s obvious love for her son and her relief that he had been bound, she was charged with misdemeanor child neglect. Investigators at the site made the determination that Chelsea had not properly supervised William when he left the house and wandered into the woods.
Is Jezebel A Hero For Staying With The Two-year-old Boy All Night?
![dog sitting on the ground](https://happymutt.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Jezebel-kept-William-safe-300x225.jpg)
The sheriff’s department labeled Jezebel a hero. She stayed with the toddler all night. She did not leave his side for the seven terrifying hours that he was missing. We will never know just how much comfort she gave to this two-year-old toddler.
Courtesy of : Pixabay, Pexel, WLOX Twitter / Hugh Keetonand and the public domain