podcast
CNN 5 Good Things
How about a break — for your ears? At CNN, we know the news can be a lot to take in. So each week, 5 Good Things offers you a respite from the heavy headlines and intense news cycle. Treat yourself to something fun and uplifting every Saturday as we share the bright side of life from all over the globe.
A Dog Saves a Missing Boy After Hours in the Desert
CNN 5 Good Things
Apr 19, 2025
A doctor in Florida is using art to honor his cancer patients’ recovery. A ranch dog rescues a lost toddler in the Arizona desert. A new museum in south Jersey lets visitors dig for fossils on a mass extinction site. Thanks to a young fan, a first-time author’s book is now a best seller. Plus, this public safety power couple retires after a combined 72 years in service.
Episode Transcript
Krista Bo
00:00:01
Hey there, I hope you're having a good day. And if not, give me like 10 minutes to try to cheer you up. A new museum in New Jersey isn't just asking visitors to look at fossils, they want you to find your own. Plus...
Scotty Dunton
00:00:14
It's what he does. He loves kids, so I can imagine he wouldn't leave him when he found him.
Krista Bo
00:00:18
'How a very good boy helped rescue a two-year-old who wandered miles away from home. From CNN, I'm Krista Bo, and this is 5 Good Things.
Bell ringing and cheering
00:00:34
[Bell ringing and cheering]
Krista Bo
00:00:34
That might sound like just an ordinary bell, but for people battling cancer and their family members, it marks a major milestone, the end of a round of treatment and a moment of triumph.
Arthur Eads
00:00:45
There was no better feeling than getting to grab that bell. I went through about nine weeks of misery and this little bell means more to me than that nine weeks.
Krista Bo
00:00:56
'Arthur Eads is 68-years-old, from Cape Coral, Florida, and had been battling cancer for more than eight years. Even through multiple diagnoses, surgeries, and rounds of chemotherapy and radiation treatments, he says he has never lost his will to fight. And that bell is a great reminder of that.
Arthur Eads
00:01:14
I'm not for sure what the war is going to look like the rest of my life, but I am sure that I won this battle.
Krista Bo
00:01:23
He says he couldn't have done it without his wife, Barb, of 20 years, his care team, and his oncologist, Dr. Frank Rodriguez. Frank knows how much that moment, the ringing of the bell, means to his patients.
Dr. Frank Rodriguez
00:01:35
They're basically putting the world on notice that they have finished this really challenging part of their lives. And so my hope is that by keeping a memento of that moment, they'll remember how strong they are.
Krista Bo
00:01:50
He uses art to escape from the tragedy that often comes with the job. So a few weeks ago, he decided to paint an image of the bell that's hanging in his office and gift copies of the artwork to his patients. Arthur's honored to be the first to receive one. In the foreground is a vivid image of the golden bell. In the background, a colorful collage of shapes with a barely visible human figure and two windows. Dr. Rodriguez says it's supposed to symbolize the chaos that they went through, the support that they got. And the way out.
Dr. Frank Rodriguez
00:02:21
I always talk about the space between the fear of what you're going through and the hope that you're gonna make it out of that difficult event, and it's in that little space between fear and hope that really amazing things happen, really magical things happen.
Arthur Eads
00:02:40
'That picture is so important to me. And I'm going to steal somebody's words from a long time ago - Jimmy Valvano, because I'm a big sports nut. He said, "don't give up, don't ever give up." And every time I see that picture, it tells me, "don't give up, don't ever give up!"
Dr. Kenneth Lacovara
00:03:02
'When people come here, kids or grown ups, if they try a little bit and they're not afraid to get their hands dirty, they will find a 66-million-year-old fossil with their own hands and we let them take it home.
Krista Bo
00:03:14
'Dr. Kenneth Lacovara is a paleontologist and the executive director of the Edelman Fossil Park and Museum of Rowan University. It opened last month in Matua, New Jersey, sprawls 123 acres behind a Lowe's, and is dedicated to biodiversity and natural habitat restoration. And from May through October, visitors can dig for fossils in an over 40-foot deep quarry that's considered to be a prehistoric extinction site.
Dr. Kenneth Lacovara
00:03:41
So what we actually had here was the extinction of the dinosaurs and 75% of species represented in this quarry and it turned into the best window that the world has ever had into this moment in time.
Krista Bo
00:03:53
Ken says he and his team have found over 100,000 fossils from more than 100 species here, from dinosaurs to sea turtles and marine snails.
Dr. Kenneth Lacovara
00:04:02
'It's almost a statistical certainty that every one of those creatures was in the position in which you see them in the exhibit gallery. So there was a 55-foot long mosasaur, there was that sea turtle where you see it at some point in time. So it's about as realistic and place-based as you can get.
Krista Bo
00:04:20
'Opening it was a labor of love for Ken, who's enjoyed finding fossils since he was seven--years-old, including one that's pretty famous.
Dr. Kenneth Lacovara
00:04:28
The dinosaur that I named Dreadnoughtus, supermassive animal about 85 feet and about 10 tons heavier than a Boeing 737. It was actually in the last Jurassic World movie, which was a thrill, I got a shout out by name. It's been a Mattel toy, it's been beer, it has been in Olympic commercials, it kind of entered the popular zeitgeist.
Krista Bo
00:04:48
'Ken helps the fossils and the interactive exhibits there will inspire kids to get involved in earth conservation efforts and prevent climate-related crises.
Dr. Kenneth Lacovara
00:04:56
We have this planet and each other. So we think that we are expanding the horizons of children, giving them better opportunities for the future, growing better citizens really. And that can all start with a muddy kid and a fossil.
Krista Bo
00:05:12
'While browsing her local Barnes and Noble, Taylor Dinelli and her four-year-old daughter, Ella, spotted an author sitting alone at a signing table with a stack of unsold books. Once Ella learned Jonathan Stanley wrote those books himself, her mom said she just had to talk to him.
Taylor Dinelli
00:05:27
And I thought, yeah, that would be really nice. You know, I'm sure he would really appreciate if we went over and talked to him as well. So we went and struck up a conversation. Ella told him.
Jonathan Stanley
00:05:37
'This amazing four-year-old girl came marching up to me and she bravely said, "I wanna be an author when I grow up." And I just created my first book. And in that moment, it was such a special moment, she touched my heart.
Krista Bo
00:05:53
Taylor said they bought Jonathan's book, had him sign it, and went about their day. She posted two TikTok videos about the observation and the sweet encounter between Ella and Jonathan that eventually got over 84 million views combined. Now, his book on leadership skills is listed as one of Amazon's best sellers in the strategic management category.
Jonathan Stanley
00:06:13
The video made an impact because she came into the moment with kindness and empathy. And it's shown the world that kindness matters. It can change someone's life, it changed mine.
Krista Bo
00:06:27
Jonathan says he'll gladly return the favor when Ella writes her first book. But in the meantime, Taylor says Ella wants to keep paying it forward.
Taylor Dinelli
00:06:35
'You know, I explained to her as much as you can explain to a four-year-old that what we did really will change Mr. Stanley's life and make his life a lot better. Without a second thought, she's like, Mommy, we could help everybody. Like, we should keep helping people.
Krista Bo
00:06:51
'Earlier this week, two-year-old Boden Allen disappeared into the Arizona desert and spent the night alone in the wilderness. But by morning, he had been found by a four-legged hero.
Krista Bo
00:07:01
The Yavapai County Sheriff's Office said he had wandered away from his family's property and traveled seven miles through the high desert with mountain lions and other predators out and about. Search and rescue teams spent 16 hours looking for the young boy after the parents reported him missing. But it was Scotty Dutton's ranch dog named Buford who found Boden safe and sound.
Scotty Dunton
00:07:23
I'd heard about the missing child before I was going to town and when I was driving out the driveway I noticed my dog was sitting down by the entrance and I look up and the little kid standing there with my dog. It was a relief that he was alive so I was, you know, ecstatic that he's okay and that my dog found him.
Krista Bo
00:07:40
Scotty said Buford's an Anatolian Pyrenees mix, so he's a big dog with fluffy white and gray fur. But don't mistake his cuteness for weakness.
Scotty Dunton
00:07:48
He's a guardian dog, so he just kind of patrols within a half mile of the house all night and keeps coyotes away and stuff like that so.
Krista Bo
00:07:55
After giving the kids some food and water, Scotty told deputies a young boy had wandered onto his property, and officials confirmed it was him.
Scotty Dunton
00:08:02
And I asked him, I said, "did you walk all night?" And he said, "no." He said, "I laid up under a tree." And I said well, "did my dog find you?" And he goes, "yep." So it's what he does. He loves kids. So I can imagine he wouldn't leave him when he found him.
Krista Bo
00:08:14
'How a two-year-old crossed mountain ranges all by himself without any major injuries is still a mystery. The sheriff's office said the parents were beside themselves when Boden disappeared and was overjoyed to have him home safe. And for Buford, Scotty said he rewarded him with a nice steak dinner.
Krista Bo
00:08:34
Up next, another happy ending, but this time for a public safety power couple with over seven decades of experience combined. We'll be right back.
Krista Bo
00:08:44
It's not often that a married couple works together for decades and then retires together, much less on the very same day. But after spending a combined 72 years in public safety at Outagamie County, Wisconsin, Lowell and Linda James are ready to start a new chapter.
Lowell James
00:09:00
I want to thank the citizens of Black Creek for the opportunities, my family, and my wife for all the support.
Krista Bo
00:09:07
That's Lowell making his last announcement by radio call as chief of the Black Creek Police Department. Last week, he told CNN affiliate WLUK that he's been part of the force for over three decades.
Lowell James
00:09:19
'I moved here shortly after I accepted my job here, and I've never looked back. After I became chief, I could do so many more things to interact with the community. Memorial Day weekend, my officers hand out s'mores packages to people having campfires at home. We do the cop-sicles at the lake.
Krista Bo
00:09:36
And his wife Linda has been by his side, personally and professionally.
Linda James
00:09:40
It's been a pleasure telling you all where to go for the last 40 years.
Krista Bo
00:09:44
Linda has worked as a telecommunicator at the Outagamie County's 911 Center for four decades. And after dealing with tens of thousands of calls, her colleagues say she's the best at dealing with the worst. So now she's ready to do something a little lighter.
Linda James
00:09:58
It'll be the first summer that we have had as a couple for 40 years, you know. So yeah, it'll be exciting.
Krista Bo
00:10:11
All right, that's all for now. Join us tomorrow for the next edition of One Thing. Host David Rind and CNN's Lauren Del Valle break down what Harvard's next moves could be amid the federal funding standoff it has with the Trump administration.
Krista Bo
00:10:24
Five Good Things is a production of CNN Audio. This episode was produced by Eryn Mathewson and me, Krista Bo. Our senior producers are Felicia Patinkin and Faiz Jamil. Matt Dempsey is our production manager. Dan Dzula is our technical director, and Steve Lickteig is the executive producer of CNN Audio.
Krista Bo
00:10:42
We get support from Dan Bloom, Joey Salvia, Haley Thomas, Alex Manasseri, Robert Mathers, Jon Dianora, Leni Steinhardt, Jamus Andrest, Nichole Pesaru, and Lisa Namerow. Special thanks to Hazel Tang and Wendy Brundige. And thank you for listening. Take care, till next time.
