MACCLENNY, Fla. – The 8-year-old Baker County boy who was missing for more than two days late last month was reunited with his rescuers Friday.
Peyton Blodgett disappeared from a relative's home Oct. 25. More than 300 law enforcement personnel and volunteers searched for him before an investigator in a helicopter spotted him, balled up in the woods.
A lot of people called Peyton's rescue the "miracle in Macclenny." Nearly two weeks after the scary ordeal, Peyton looks great. He's healthy and happy and Friday deputies made one his dreams come true.
They let him ride in a police car.
He was full of energy and excitement Friday at the Baker County Sheriff's Office. It was a far cry from two weeks ago when Peyton, who has autism, was cold and alone in the woods for nearly 50 hours, swarmed by mosquitoes the size of his fingers. Peyton, already small, dropped from 45 pounds to just 37.
"I don't think he would've made it another day, I can promise you that," said Teresa Rewis, Peyton's grandmother. "I don't think it would've been much longer, I really don't."
IMAGES: Peyton's special day meeting his rescuers
On Friday, Peyton reunited with the men and women who helped find him, like Officer Brian Hall, who scooped him up from under a bush deep in the forest.
Sheriff Joey Dobson gave Peyton a badge for being so brave. But his dream come true was riding with the sheriff.
"He will never forget it, definitely," Rewis said of Peyton's special day meeting his rescuers. "He will talk and talk and talk about this day for a while."
It was a day the rescuers weren't sure would come while they were out searching the woods for him.
"We definitely hoped this day would come, and I'm glad that it did," said Rodney Driggers, and investigator with the Baker County Sheriff's Office.
Rewis told all the deputies how grateful she was for them. She said the community was incredible, praying for her family during the difficult search.
Peyton's health still isn't 100 percent, but Rewis said he's getting better every day, and that's all she could ask for.