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Police: 3-year-old boy found wandering alone near Mon River

MILLSBORO, Pa. — A Washington County woman is being credited with preventing a tragic accident after she spotted a young boy wandering alone near the Monongahela River Thursday morning.

According to police, Alyssia Johnson spotted the 3-year-old boy at the edge of the Monongahela River in Millsboro about 10 a.m. Johnson said he wasn’t wearing shoes, had a wet diaper and was wearing a night shirt.

Police later said the boy had followed a dog and wandered away from his grandmother's Millsboro home.

Johnson told Channel 11’s Jennifer Tomazic she knocked on several nearby doors to see if anyone recognized the boy. After about an hour, she said she called police.

Authorities responded to the scene and contacted an EMW crew, as well as child and youth services. At this time, a woman claiming to be the boy’s grandmother showed up.

Police said 43-year-old Denene Morris told officers someone else was supposed to be watching him while she went shopping. Officers said she didn’t cooperate with their investigation and eventually resisted arrest.

She was taken into police custody and is facing endangering the welfare of children charges, as well as resisting arrest.

The boy, who wasn’t injured, is now in the custody of his father.

Donald Huffman, the boy’s father, said he will be keeping a closer eye on his son.

“Because he was by that river and he could have fallen in, that's what scares me the most. I could have lost my son,” said Huffman.