For almost two days hundreds of people combed the steep hills of Lawrence County, Kentucky, looking for a little boy who could not call out to them. On Tuesday morning, Nov. 3, he finally came to them. Six-year-old Roman Heilman stepped out of the brush behind his small dog, looked up at a group of horses and said E-I-E-I-O.

Roman is autistic and nonverbal. He wandered away from his home near Louisa around 2:45 PM Central on Sunday, Nov. 1. As the hours stretched on the search grew into a huge effort with state police, the National Guard, local fire crews and volunteers who drove in from West Virginia and Ohio.

More than 300 people joined in on foot and on horseback. Searchers also tried something special for a boy who loves music. They walked the ridges singing If You're Happy and You Know It, hoping a familiar tune would draw him out.

The moment he was found

A team of riders from Jeffersonville was working the woods about a mile and a half from Roman's house a little before 10:30 AM Central on Tuesday. That is when his dog trotted out of the thicket with Roman right behind. He pointed at the horses and gave them a cheerful farm song greeting.

Rider Jonah Lainhart scooped him up and Roman wrapped his arms around his neck and would not let go. A horse named Macee carried the boy and his rescuer out of the woods. He had been missing for close to 44 hours.

Roman was treated for dehydration and is expected to be fine. Local emergency management director Travis Hughes helped run the search from a staging area at a nearby Baptist church where volunteers checked in around the clock.

A town that showed up

For two nights the whole region seemed to hold its breath. Strangers loaded up horse trailers and drove across state lines to walk ridges they had never seen for a child they had never met.

His family now has a story they will tell for the rest of their lives. A loyal little dog led the way and a boy who does not use words found the perfect ones for the moment.