PALM COAST, Fla. — A miracle rescue took place after nearly five days of searching for a Flagler County teen, who is now recovering at a hospital.

• Special needs teen Ricky Wheeler found in wooded area
• More than 100 volunteers helped find Wheeler
• Discovering Wheeler's clothes helped lead K9 to him

Volunteers made it possible to reunite 17-year-old Ricky Wheeler with his family Tuesday.

Dawn and Anthony (Tony) Butrym set out with more than 100 volunteers to find Rickey Wheeler, who was reported missing last Friday.

The Butryms were the first two to sign up, and the first to find evidence leading to the teen.

"One of the open areas along the wooded line, I found his clothes. Then shortly after that, my wife found his shoes," said Tony.

The two loaded into the rescue response truck Tuesday.

"I felt like God just put us in the area we needed to be in at the time. Once we found those clothes, it was happiness, but a little scared emotional feeling for us. We just prayed real hard that God would intervene, and he did," said Dawn.

Once the bloodhound with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office got a whiff of his clothes after the couple found them, it was a huge development in the case.

Deputies secured the search area and specifically searched near his clothing.

"Rickey was probably out there for probably three, four, maybe five days in that area, so I had to work through all that scent pool," said Sgt. Emmett Merritt, K-9 Handler, Putnam County Sheriff's Office.

After searching for two hours, about 100 yards away their prayers were answered. Wheeler was found in a ditch alive and appeared to be relieved.

It took a joint effort to find Rickey Wheeler deep down in the trenches out here, but today everyone is celebrating that he was found alive.

"Every find is like your first one, especially when it’s a child," said Merritt.

"Deploying the volunteers gave us hope again and then finding the clothes gave us more hope, and finding Rickey -- end of the story," said Chief Paul Bovino, Flagler County Sheriff's Office.

The chief and the volunteers said this was shocking end to a story that everyone prayed for.

"We just pray that he continues to heal, and he'll be okay. I look forward to someday maybe meeting him," said Butrym.

The family released a statement thanking everyone who searched for him. They said Wheeler is coherent and eating as much as he can get his hands on.

The K9 handler says the bloodhound's reward for finding Wheeler was to get petted by the teen and get a steak for dinner.