Missing Tennessee boy found alive, safe, barefoot
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Jordan Gorman was found Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020 in the Joelton area after being reported missing on Sunday. The TBI said he was cold and hungry but in “good spirits” (Photo: TBI)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. —Authorities reported Tuesday that a missing nine-year-old Tennessee boy was found alive and safe.
Jordan Gorman went missing from his home in Joelton — about 17 miles away from Nashville — on Sunday.
He was found at about 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon under a blue tarp he used to create a makeshift shelter near a creek bed, about three-fourths of a mile from his home. He was barefoot and without a jacket, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said.
The TBI said Jordan was cold and hungry but in good spirits. He was medically evaluated after his ordeal.
“I couldn’t have survived that,” Cheatham County Sheriff Mike Breedlove said during a news conference announcing the boy’s safe return. TBI spokesman Josh DeVine added, “same here.”
Breedlove called Jordan’s discovery “the exception to the rule.”
“We are so relieved. The odds were so against us … And then this miracle happens,” the sheriff said.
Investigators were still working Tuesday to uncover why Jordan left home, DeVine said.
One person involved in the search and rescue told reporters that Jordan wasn’t sure how long he had been under the tarp.
Authorities were still working Tuesday to piece together a timeline of Jordan’s disappearance. Little information was shared with the publicas the 48-hour mark of Jordan’s disappearance approached.
Questions about Jordan’s family and his home life were referred to the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services on Tuesday. An agency spokesman declined to answer specific questions, citing state confidentiality laws. He said DCS was working closely with state and local law enforcement on the case.
The search
The TBI issued a statewide AMBER Alert Monday morning as authorities urged Cheatham County residents to search their yards, outbuildings and crawl spaces for the boy.
The search pulled multiple agencies out as they combed the rugged terrain full of rolling hills and steep drop-offs. Jordan went missing while only wearing a t-shirt and was barefoot as temperatures dove into the 30s.
Joelton is an unincorporated community about 17 miles north of Nashville.
Jordan’s biological father and his wife were at the news conference announcing the boy’s safe return Tuesday afternoon. Jordan was adopted by the Gorman family, but it wasn’t clear when.
The couple, Aaron and Katie Hatt, had arrived on scene earlier in the day and spoke with law enforcement. Throughout the search, they said they tried to keep a low profile so they wouldn’t interfere with the investigation.
“We’re just so happy that he’s back, that they found him,” Katie Hatt said, noting that she’d been on her phone all day, waiting for news.
Once the TBI announced Jordan had been found, the couple, like many others in attendance, dissolved into tears.
Authorities said Jordan reportedly didn’t know people were looking for him, and he was not actively trying to go home.
“He was just chilling in the woods,” one of the rescuers said.
Follow Tennessean reporter Brinley Hineman on Twitter: @brinleyhineman.
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