Meet the man who found Phenix, missing autistic boy

BARBOUR COUNTY, Ala. (WTVY) - Markeith Williams could have spent his Sunday afternoon watching the NFL playoffs, napping, or celebrating his heritage during Martin Luther King weekend.

Instead, Williams chose to join others in what had become a seemingly futile search for a four-year-old autistic boy missing in Barbour County.

On its third day, hopes faded that Phenix was alive—even Barbour County Sheriff Tyrone Smith admitted he had nearly given up hopes of a good outcome.

Williams, though, remained optimistic as he watched other searchers head down a hill to a lake while he decided to follow a hunch and head in the opposite direction.

“Me and another guy decided to go uphill, and I thought I saw (Phenix), but I didn’t want to holler because I did know that was him, for sure,” Williams recalled. “When I got within 60 feet, I could tell (for sure) that was him, and I started hollerin’, and the others came.”

Within moments, paramedics had Phenix, who appeared to be okay, on his way to a hospital.

Williams shied away from praise, saying he was only one of 100 or more searchers who shared hopes of a good outcome.

“I mostly give credit to the man above because without him none of us would have found him.”

He said Phenix, who can’t verbally communicate, showed emotion when found.

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