Parenting is not easy – all parents know this. That’s right, good parenting is hard work. A good parent is someone who strives to make decisions in the best interest of the child. What makes a great parent isn’t only defined by the parent’s actions, but also their intention. A good parent doesn’t have to be perfect. No one is perfect. No child is perfect either. So, when 2-year-old CharIee and her dog Penny went missing for nearly two days and emerged from the woods, search crews spent 48 hours looking for her.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, the dog arrived home moments before Charlee was found by locaI resident Wayne. The family of Charlee have hailed Penny the pitbull a hero after keeping watch over the missing two-year-old while they frantically searched for her. Charlee’s Grandmother Beth stated that she’s still amazed her granddaughter, who lives with her, is alive. “Whenever they told me that they had found Mo, CharIee, I was just outside of myself. I was just so happy,” she said.

Petting Penny, Beth stated, “This is our hero right here,” and added that she believes Penny remained by Charlee’s side the entire time she was missing. “When my dog didn’t come home, and my baby wasn’t home, she was not going to leave that baby until she got here,” she said of the pit bull. According to law enforcement officials, Penny made it home shortly before Charlee was found several hundred yards away, at a neighbor’s house. “I can’t even explain how happy that I am that this baby is home, because I love her more than anything in this world,” Beth said.

Wayne, who found Charlee, stated that he’d been on his couch praying for the little girl when he saw a blonde-haired girl in his backyard. The happy reunion hit Brown in more ways than one. “My little brother went missing,” he said. “He had wandered away from the home and he had climbed three fences. They found him miles away from the house. It was actually my uncle that found him and he was dead.” After finding Charlee, Wayne gave her water and called 911. However, he still has lingering questions “They’ve been everywhere. They’ve been all over this place, and how did they not find this child, and she just shows up where the search has been. How does that happen?” he asked. Charlee’s family stated that she was in the hospital, but she was doing okay.