9-year-old Tennessee boy missing since Sunday found safe

A 9-year-old boy from Middle Tennessee, who had been missing since Sunday, was found safe Tuesday in a creek bed under a shelter he built with a tarp, authorities said.

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Jordan Gorman, of Joelton, was last seen at his home, located northwest of Nashville, The Tennessean reported.

After several search teams scoured the heavily wooded area, Gorman was found at about 3:30 p.m., the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said.

The boy was found under a pool liner and was barefoot, Cheatham County Sheriff Mike Breedlove told WKRN. He was also not wearing a jacket. A Christian County, Kentucky, rescue worker located the boy, the television station reported.

Gorman’s parents told investigators he ran away after an argument, according to WKRN.

"Cold and hungry, but otherwise in pretty good spirits!” the TBI tweeted.

Federal, state and local authorities spent days battling dropping temperatures and dangerous terrain in the search for the boy, WZTV reported. At a Tuesday morning news conference, TBI spokesperson Josh DeVine told reporters that every passing hour made the investigation look more like a recovery than a rescue effort.

“I’m still shaking. I was sitting here working in the Command Post when searchers brought Jordan in,” DeVine tweeted after the boy was found. “So gratified to be able to share this news with you.”

Gorman was medically evaluated after he was found.

“I couldn’t have survived that,” Breedlove said during a late afternoon news conference.

“Same here,” DeVine said.

Breedlove called Gorman’s discovery “the exception to the rule.”

“We are so relieved. The odds were so against us," Breedlove told reporters. “And then this miracle happens.”

Cox Media Group