BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — The Brooksville City Council issued a proclamation on Monday night to recognize the man who found a missing toddler in February.
City leaders applauded the actions of Roy Link at the city's meeting.
"If you know Roy, he's a humble man," said Mayor Blake Bell.
Link said he decided not to go fishing but instead help with the search for the missing child. He joined nearly 500 volunteers on Feb. 24. He credits the power of prayer.
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"Call it what you want, but I think I had direction. The Lord helped me for sure. I said a prayer about 15 minutes before I found him," said Link.
Link is very familiar with the area. He searched Ernie Wever Youth Park and discovered the child in a wooded area not far from Parrott Middle School.
"We do come together when it's needed. We're there, you're there, so that's a lot to be proud of," said Link.
The proclamation read in part, "Roy Link prayed that JJ would be found safe and sound and 10 minutes later, heard a 'whimpering kind of noise,' and Roy found JJ, who was scared but came willingly and gratefully into Roy's arms."
"Obviously, he had been missing for over 24 hours at that time, and going into the woods that morning, everyone was hopeful, but knowing statistics, 24 hours isn't great," said Mayor Bell.
Link does not call himself a hero. Instead, he applauds law enforcement who searched the area with drones, helicopters, horses and ATVs. He also is grateful to all the volunteers who helped search for the child.
"There's really no words to express how you felt at that time of how I felt at that time. It's just happiness for everybody," said Link.
