In the wake of Hurricane Beryl's devastating landfall in Louisiana, a grandmother finds herself in a whirlwind of emotions as she mourns the loss of one grandson and celebrates the miraculous survival of another.
The hurricane, which made landfall early Monday, resulted in widespread power outages and heavy rainfall, affecting millions of Texans and causing significant disruptions in Vinton, Louisiana, a small city near the Texas border.
According to The Blaze, the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office received a distressing report on Monday afternoon about a body floating in a lake near the Vinton Welcome Center. The deceased was described as an African American child. This news prompted Conswella Jack, a resident of Lake Charles, Louisiana, to step forward with a sinking heart, fearing that the body could be her 4-year-old grandson, Legend. Her worst fears were confirmed.
In the midst of her grief, Jack revealed to the deputies that Legend had a younger brother, Kingtrail, who was only a year old. She had not seen him since her mother's funeral on Saturday. "We were in the process of moving assets out to Vinton to search the body of water to see if we could locate the 1-year-old," said Calcasieu Sheriff Stitch Guillory.
Jack's family situation added to the concerns about Kingtrail's whereabouts. She explained that her daughter, Aaliyah Jack, the mother of both boys, had been going through a rough patch. Despite having legal custody of the children, Aaliyah had left for Baton Rouge under unclear circumstances. In her absence, Conswella took care of Kingtrail, while Legend was under the care of their paternal grandmother. The family had gathered for Conswella's mother's funeral, where Aaliyah reclaimed custody of her sons and left.
The following day, Conswella's attempts to reach Aaliyah were met with silence, save for a single text message containing a picture of a car that appeared to have been in an accident. With no further contact from Aaliyah, Conswella feared that Kingtrail might have suffered the same fate as his brother.
However, on Tuesday morning, a truck driver traveling along Interstate 10 near the Vinton Welcome Center spotted a small boy in a ditch by the roadside. The driver, who was unaware of the recent tragedy, described the encounter: "As I approached him, he smiled at me and then he started crying and walked toward me. Once he walked toward me, I grabbed his hand and he stopped crying at that point." The police were called, and it was confirmed that the boy was the missing Kingtrail. Despite some bug bites, he was in good health and was soon released from the hospital.
Sheriff Guillory referred to Kingtrail as their "miracle baby," expressing disbelief at the child's survival after spending two days alone by the highway. "Thank God that trucker seen him," he said at a press conference.
In the aftermath, a warrant was issued for Aaliyah Jack for failing to report a missing child. She was apprehended in Meridian, Mississippi, approximately 400 miles east of Vinton, Louisiana. Currently, she is resisting extradition to Louisiana, where she faces a bond of $300,000.
Conswella Jack, on the other hand, is left grappling with the loss of one grandchild while fighting for custody of the other. "I was so blessed to hear the baby survived, but also so hurt because one is now gone," she said. She expressed her determination to regain custody of Kingtrail, despite the financial and emotional challenges she faces.
As of now, Kingtrail is believed to be in state custody. The cause of death for his brother, Legend, remains undetermined, with autopsy results pending.
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