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Saturday Morning News

Memphis Police Officers Discuss Rescue of Lost Child

Aired February 19, 2000 - 9:50 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The Tennessee Department of Children's Services has taken temporary custody of the boy who was rescued along the banks of the Mississippi. Authorities say he and his two sisters were poorly supervised and have been placed in a foster home.

CNN's Mike Boettcher looks back at the 4-year-old's rescue.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A gutsy 4-year- old boy, two loyal dogs, and a plot ripped from a Lassie episode.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been looking for this child for about going on 18 hours now.

BOETTCHER: The incredible story began Wednesday night along the banks of the Mississippi near Memphis, Tennessee. After wandering from home with his golden retriever, Rosie, and a neighbor's dog, Speck (ph), 4-year-old Dewayne Johnson tumbled down a steep river bank. Another misstep and he would have fallen another 30 feet into the Mississippi. He stayed put and so did the dogs.

Throughout the night and into the next morning, searchers in the air and on the ground couldn't find him. But then, just when hope was evaporating, Dewayne and the two dogs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see him, Richard. It looks like he's hollering. He is (UNINTELLIGIBLE) where he can see them there. The dog. you can see the excitement from the canine there. It looks like one of those dogs might be a little upset there. I'm sure...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're naturally protective, I would imagine. That's what they're trained to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the gentleman is now making his way to the young boy. As you can see, it's amazing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, this is wonderful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, just a beautiful sight. Oh, my goodness gracious.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's cold but he's fine. BOETTCHER: And he was hungry, devouring a doughnut while his parents gave thanks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I feel so good. I just don't believe it.

BOETTCHER: Dewayne had tangled with the mighty Mississippi and survived, with the help of Rosie and Speck. Lassie would have been proud.

Mike Boettcher, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And joining us now are two veterans of the Memphis Police Department credited with rescuing the boy, chopper pilot Lieutenant Doug Phillips and Sergeant Dawn York.

Congratulations, and thank you both for being with us.

LT. DOUG PHILLIPS, MEMPHIS POLICE DEPARTMENT: Well, glad to be here.

SGT. DAWN YORK, MEMPHIS POLICE DEPARTMENT: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Oh, we're glad to have you.

Let's start with you, Lieutenant. The very beginning, when did you get the call?

LT. PHILLIPS: Well, the first call came Wednesday night from the Lauderdale County Sheriff's department. And myself and Officer Hoffman flew up there, and we used our infrared camera, but we didn't come up with any good results. And the weather had started to go down, so we returned to our unit.

And then Thursday Sergeant York and I were out on another patrol, and we begin to discuss, and we decided we'd go back up and give it one more shot.

PHILLIPS: And what was going through your mind, Lieutenant, when you saw a child, an actual little boy alive and breathing? What was going -- was the adrenaline pumping?

LT. PHILLIPS: Oh, it was like being at a football game, and you can just feel the excitement in the air. And, of course, I think of my children and how I would be feeling were my son or daughter rescued.

PHILLIPS: And, Sergeant York, what was going through your mind? You were the other officer there. What were you thinking?

YORK: Yes, I was ecstatic. Like I said, a lot of people had put in a lot of time, they'd been working through the night, it had been cold and freezing rain. And like I said, it kind of brought everybody together and turned out great. PHILLIPS: I thought it was interesting, too, it also brought you together with the media. I understand you sort of worked together with the chopper 5 and you.

YORK: Yes, we did. It worked out, like I said, real well. We'd been flying along the edge of the river there and picked up a heat source and switched to day camera, and we zoomed in as best we could with the camera that we had, and we were able to pick up the dogs and also the child. And just for verification, we had chopper 5 to fly over. And they had a zoom-in camera. They could get in closer and actually pick up facial features off the child. And they stayed with him while we went over and picked up one of the rescuers to bring him back to help guide the rest of the rescuers towards the child.

PHILLIPS: And I have to ask both of you., did either one of you get a chance to talk with the little boy?

LT. PHILLIPS: Neither of us has had a chance yet. Hope that happens sometime.

PHILLIPS: What about the parents?

LT. PHILLIPS: When we finished with the job, we returned to the unit, and we didn't get a chance to speak with anyone.

PHILLIPS: Well, Lieutenant Doug Phillips, Sergeant Dawn York, this is what police work is all about, wouldn't you say?

LT. PHILLIPS: I'd say so.

YORK: Yes, very much so.

LT. PHILLIPS: Best part of it.

PHILLIPS: Wonderful story. thanks so much for being with us.

YORK: Thank you.

LT. PHILLIPS: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

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