Toddler chasing bubbles finds elderly woman who had been missing for days

Editor's note: This article was originally published on August 19, 2022. It has since been updated.

A toddler in Coweta County, Georgia, unwittingly helped find an elderly woman who had been missing for four days. Nina Lipscomb, 82, has Alzheimer's and her family became worried after she went missing for a few days. Then 1 1/2-year-old Ethan found her while playing with bubbles in the backyard with his mother, Brittany Moore. As the bubbles flew toward the fence line of the property, Ethan excitedly chased them, along with the family dogs. The boy spotted something in the woods and stopped. Moore, sensing his concern, decided to walk over to check, reported WDSU. 

"I went over there and was like, 'What do you see buddy?' and he pointed and said, 'Feet,'" said Moore, recalling the moment. She was a little confused and asked him once again what he had seen. He reiterated what he saw—feet. Moore couldn't see anyone from where she was standing. There was certainly no one from her viewpoint. She then crouched, so she could get to her toddler's eye line. She saw a pair of feet. She panicked. "If you get on his level and look through, you can see some of the broken sticks and that's where she was laying," she said. "I didn't know if I needed to go into fight or flight because I had my little boy out here and the other inside," she added.

She calmed herself and called for help. First responders arrived and checked on the person lying in the woods. She was alive but disoriented. They did a check and soon realized it was 82-year-old Nina Lipscomb who had been missing for four days and had her family worried sick. They had been working in tandem with authorities, searching for her. Authorities and community members had been searching for her for over four days, even using thermal technology, but it was ultimately a toddler who found her.

The place where Ethan found the 82-year-old was less than a quarter of a mile from where she was last seen. "We pulled out every resource we thought we needed but it was a little boy and she's very fond of children," said Karen Lipscomb, Lipscomb's daughter. Karen spoke to her mother, who later told her she had left the house to look for her sister, who had already passed away. "Her sister lived here in this house, but she passed away in March, but growing up they lived on Glacier Road which is just around the corner," she explained.

Lipscomb is in the early stage of Alzheimer's, confirmed the family. She received treatment at the local hospital before returning home. She met with Ethan and said the toddler likely saved her life. Karen offered the Moore family money as a reward but they refused to accept any monetary reward. Karen gifted Ethan with a bag of toy bubbles. "I recognized it right off. The story of bubbles is so pure and innocent and yet effective," said Karen, before adding that a forever bond had been cemented between the two families, thanks to Ethan. The boy's mother believes it was the work of God. "It took a child who was being worked by God. We will always teach him what he did, how he played an impact in it," said Moore.