Snowplow driver saves 5-year-old walking frigid streets in pajamas, Wisconsin cops say

The wind chill was -5 degrees when a Wisconsin snowplow driver clearing the streets thought he saw something standing in the road around 4 a.m. Friday.

“I thought it was a deer or dog,” David Gehrke, 61, told the Washington County Insider.

He explained to McClatchy News that it’s not uncommon to see wildlife while he’s out plowing in West Bend. But as Gehrke got closer, he realized it wasn’t an animal at all — it was a boy.

“Turns out it was a child in his pajamas,” he told the Insider. “No jacket or hat. If it were anybody else driving by, I don’t think you would have seen him because my lights are on the curb.”

Gehrke said the boy wasn’t wearing shoes or boots — only a brown onesie. He said it would have been easy for anyone to mistake the boy as a deer.

After spotting the boy, Gehrke drove up to the next intersection and quickly whipped around his snowplow.

Gehrke stopped and scooped up the 5-year-old boy, who was eager to warm up in the truck, police said.

“He was just cold,” Gehrke told McClatchy News. “I took my jacket off and I wrapped him up and I put him in the cab of the truck and turned the heater on high so I could get some warmth back in him.”

Gehrke called police, who learned the boy, Maddox Pierce, had left home while his babysitter was asleep.

He’d wandered about a block from his home when Gehrke spotted him.

As the pair waited for police to arrive, Gehrke kept Maddox entertained, answering the boy’s questions about the snowplow and chatting about the morning’s events.

Gehrke asked Maddox where he lived, and the boy said he didn’t know but suggested the pair follow his footprints back to his home.

“And I said to him no, we’re going to stay in the truck and keep warm,” Gehrke told McClatchy News. “And when the police come, we’re going to let the police follow your footsteps to your home.”

When police arrived, Maddox told officials had gotten scared because he thought he was home alone and decided to go to his grandpa’s house, according to WISN.

Police eventually drove Maddox safely home.

The boy’s mom, Brittany Weissenburger, was at work at the time of the incident.

“I’ve been a mess since everything happened. He’s never, ever done anything like that before,” she told WISN. “I’m so thankful. What are the odds that (Gehrke) would find him at that exact moment that he pretty much came outside?”

Weissenburger said she’s since installed cameras and alarms to prevent anything similar from happening in the future, WISN reported.

Police lauded Gehrke for his actions, awarding him, and several others, with the city’s Citizen Award.

“Mr. Gehrke’s immediate action likely saved the life of this child, as he would not have survived more than a few minutes the way he was dressed in the subzero conditions,” police said.

Gehrke said he’s just grateful he happened upon Maddox when he did.

“The kid would have (frozen) to death if I hadn’t seen him,” he told the Insider. “His hands were tucked in his jammies and his feet were cold but not frostbit. He was a happy kid. He couldn’t tell me where grandpa lived but he had a lot of questions about the truck.”

West Bend is roughly 40 miles north of Milwaukee.

This story was originally published February 18, 2021 at 6:43 AM with the headline "Snowplow driver saves 5-year-old walking frigid streets in pajamas, Wisconsin cops say."