GRIMES COUNTY, Texas – Three-year-old Christopher Ramirez was released from the hospital and returned to his Grimes County home Monday.
Dozens of deputies and officers in marked patrol vehicles escorted Ramirez and his family home from the the Texas Children’s Hospital where he was taken Saturday after he was found.
Following the procession, Christopher’s mother Araceli Nunez spoke briefly during a news conference outside her home. While carrying Christopher in her arms, Nunez described what it was like when she reunited with her son.
“I can’t explain with words what I felt in that moment,” she said. “It was incredible. I just wanted to grab him and hug him.”
RELATED: Good Samaritan details how he found missing 3-year-old Christopher Ramirez
Nunez said she picked him up, held him in her arms and told him how much she loved him and added that one of first things Chris asked for was his older brother.
“Definitely it’s a miracle,” she said. “God put everybody on this path for this reason, to find my son.”
When asked whether she would’ve done anything differently, Nunez stressed she was a good mother and said that the situation unfolded quickly -- she took her eye off Chris for just two minutes before he vanished in the woods near their home.
“It can happen to anybody,” she said. “Thank you for your time and for being here, everybody behind the cameras, thank you. Thank you for your prayers. This let’s you know that God exists and that he’s with us.”
Around 1:30 pm on Wednesday, Christopher disappeared near his home in 10000 block of Deer Park Lane in Grimes County. The child’s family told deputies Christopher went missing moments after returning home with his mother and grandmother -- the trio had been out running errands. As the women were unloading the car, the boy, who was wearing a bright green shirt and Mickey Mouse shoes, chased a neighbor’s puppy out of sight of the adults. When the dog returned and Christopher did not, the family and their neighbors began searching for him. After about 20 minutes with no luck, the family contacted the Grimes County Sheriff’s Office for assistance.
Deputies, assisted by multiple K-9 units, responded and conducted a ground search through the evening and into the night. Several additional agencies (including the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation) and over a hundred volunteers soon joined the search. The large group canvassed the area multiple times over the proceeding days. Drones and helicopters were used to survey the wooded area from above. Deputies drained several ponds. Despite their efforts, Christopher remained missing -- until Saturday morning, when a Good Samaritan named Tim found the boy near FM 1486, north of State Highway 249.
Christopher was taken to Texas Children’s Hospital in The Woodlands where he was treated for dehydration. His mother was seen accompanying her son to the hospital in an ambulance.
View Araceli Nunez’s Oct. 11 remarks below.
View the procession for Christopher here.
View all KPRC 2′s coverage of the search for Christopher here.