Hunch led judge to pool where missing 2-year-old was rescued floating on his back

Rescue workers “came out of the woodwork” even after their shifts ended to join in the search for a missing 2-year-old in Forsyth County, Ga., on Sunday, Doug Rainwater of the Forsth County Sheriff’s Office told the Forsyth County News.

But it was the actions - and intuition - of a judge that may have ultimately saved the boy’s life that night.

Police say a 2-year-old wandered through the back door of a home and had been missing for about 30 minutes his mother called for help, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The sheriff’s office mounted a full search and began combing the area. But a local resident, Forsyth County associate magistrate judge Phil Bettis, decided he needed to help as well, according to the paper

He told WXIA it was a “God’s intervention” that led him to an uninhabited home which had belonged to his mother.

“I’ll just say its inspiration from God above because it’s not something I would have normally sensed,” he told the station. “I knew my mom’s place, we were doing some renovations ... I said I’ve gotta go check.”

The judge told WSB he heard the child long before he saw him, and when he got to the water of the home’s swimming pool, he saw the toddler floating across the surface.

“He’s spread-eagle in the pool with his diaper and his shirt on, but floating,” he told the station.

The child was on his back and being kept afloat by the diaper’s buoyancy, the sheriff’s department said, according to the Gainesville Times. Bettis was able to reach the child and bring him to safety.

“It was almost like the wind blew or he motioned enough to get me close enough to stretch from the edge of the pool to reach in. I grabbed his left foot and pulled him toward me. I tried to calm him and say, ‘It’s OK. I got you,’” he told WSB.

Rainwater, of the sheriff’s department, called Bettis “a true hero in our community,” the Gainesville Times reported.

“It is miraculous, and I don’t take any credit for it. I think it’s God’s intervention to take care of him,” Bettis told WXIA.

Medical officials treated the toddler and found him to be in good condition, CBS 46 reported. But upon further investigation of the child’s home, officials say they discovered “deplorable living conditions” which caused the mother’s two children to be removed from her care, according to the AJC.

Danielle Cherie Wright, the mother, was charged with second-degree cruelty to children and reckless conduct, CBS 46 reported.