CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KFVS) - In his four years as shuttle driver for the Hush Puppy Saloon Strip Club, Shawn Heath says he's seen it all.
"A lot of fights and comical stuff," said Heath. "A lot of drunk people."
But he says nothing could prepare him for what he saw early Sunday morning as he took passengers home after a night out. He was driving down Independence when he saw a little boy.
"He was standing near the corner of Park," said Heath. "I said that's not right. I looked at my clock and it was four in the morning."
Heath circled the block and when he came back around he says he saw the boy running toward West End Blvd.
"He was on the side of the street," said Heath. "Not even the sidewalk, the street. That really scared me. I looked to see if there were other adults around. There was no one."
Heath says he knew he had to stop to pick up his most unusual passenger yet.
"He was wearing pajamas and no shoes. He was scared and confused," said Heath.
Heath says the child got right in and took a seat with the rest of the passengers.
"I had some college kids and a couple of middle-aged women that just fell in love with the baby," said Heath.
Everyone tried to get the little boy to tell them where he lived.
Heath circled the neighborhood but the four year old just cried.
Heath decided to take the little boy to the police department.
"It's pretty unusual," said Officer Darin Hickey.
Hickey says they quickly found his parents.
"It was really scary for them. The Department of Family Services took it over. They found the environment to be safe. Basically we think the little boy woke up and wanted to go find a sibling in another apartment. He didn't understand it wasn't OK to go outside."
"I'm just glad the little boy is OK," said Heath. "That's the main thing. I'm thankful I saw him before he ended up hit by a car or ended up hurt by an animal."
Some of the staff at the Hush Puppy would like to do something for the little boy but they have not learned his name.
Police say if we can learn something from this, it is to teach your children to be able to tell someone their address in an emergency.
Luckily he had a truck load of witnesses.
telegraph.co.uk
"There was one small detail that jumped out at me in the tragic story of Abigail Rae, the two-year-old who wandered off from her village playgroup and ended up dying in a garden pond. Tucked away at the end of yesterday's inquest report was a line about how Clive Peachey, a bricklayer, drove past a child on her own, whom he later concluded had been Abby.
She was not walking straight, she was tottering, said Mr Peachey. "I kept thinking should I go back? One of the reasons I did not go back is because I thought someone would see me and think I was trying to abduct her.""