Joshua Rowland missing updates Brooksville, Florida boy found covered in scratches after vanishi

May 2024 · 3 minute read

JJ was happy to be back

Roy Link revealed to the press that JJ seemed happy to be back.

Roy told reporters he met with the family and they all took a picture together after JJ was found.

He added: “I’m just glad I was a part of it.”

Authorities suspected that JJ's case wasn't a kidnapping

Prior to his being found, authorities said that they believed JJ was not abducted and continued to search for the missing toddler scouring through wooded areas.

Joshua was reported missing by his parents at 12pm on Thursday.

Praise for Roy Link following JJ's discovery

After news broke of volunteer Roy Link finding JJ, people took to Twitter to share their elation over the news and to praise him for his efforts.

One person wrote: "Veteran #Marine #RoyLink deserves a medal. He found missing toddler #JoshuaRowland in the woods and he is safe and sound. Little guy spent the night there. I wish they all turned out like this."

Family reunion, recapped

A woman who identified herself as JJ's mother can be overheard crying with happiness just moments after the child was found.

“Oh my god, are you okay baby?” the woman was heard asking JJ, who said, according to WFLA, “yeah.”

One of JJ's cousins, Christina Sowers, expressed her joy at the discovery of the toddler, saying: "I am so excited they found that baby."

She added: "There was a mom I talked to here today who lost her son in a drowning 23 years ago, and she was here today looking for this baby. It’s incredible."

JJ found a fast friend in Roy

When he found the boy, Link said JJ was “alive and doing well. I’m giving him some water and he’s wanting mama.”

“He was real happy, and he wanted mom,” Link said, according to WFLA.

“Deputies showed up. I guess I made a friend real quick, ’cause he hung onto me, and he didn’t want to go to anybody until his parents showed up.”

Despite some scratches, JJ was in good condition and appeared glad to have been located, according to Link.

Plans change

U.S. Marine Corps veteran Roy Link, the volunteer who discovered JJ, said that he had intended to go fishing on Friday morning but that something compelled him to take part in the search for the young child instead.

Link said he discovered JJ in the north Brooksville woods after hearing JJ whimpering. At that point, he dialed 911.

“Hey, I found him,” Link can be heard saying in a recorded 911 phone call released by the sheriff’s office and shared by WFLA. “I’m walking over here to a field—an open field.”

The toddler could be heard asking for his mother in the background of the phone call.

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