DRIVING TEAM NAMED HIGHWAY ANGELS FOR HELPIN YOUNG BOY ALONE ON HIGHWAY AT 3 A.M.

01/26/2015
Alexandria, Virginia

Michael Tarver of Denton, Texas, and Ron Davis of Aragon, Georgia, who drive for Earl L. Henderson Trucking Co. of Salem, Illinois, are the latest Highway Angels to be named by the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA).

At about 3:00 a.m. on August 30, 2014, the two men were driving along I-55 northbound near St. Louis, Missouri, on their way to drop a load of freight. Davis, a seasoned professional truck driver, was on the computer while Tarver, his student, was at the wheel. It was Tarver’s first trip on the road with his trainer.

Suddenly, Tarver saw something strange: a young boy walking alone down the interstate.

“Did you see that?” he asked. “Stop the truck. Let’s check this out!” came the response.

It turned out that the 9-year-old boy had left the house where he had been staying, crawled through briars to get from his subdivision to the interstate, and had walked 7-8 miles on foot. He was clearly scared. His legs were scratched and bleeding, and he was thirsty. Tarver and Davis brought the boy into their truck, calmed him down, and gave him a bottle of water.

Before they could report finding the boy, a police car appeared nearby. They flagged the officer down, and within a very short time, more police and a helicopter had arrived. Apparently, an Amber Alert had just been issued for the boy, and the authorities were out in full force trying to find him. After the police saw that the boy was okay, they gratefully shook the drivers’ hands and thanked them for what they did. One officer even stated that the incident could have turned out much worse if it weren’t for Tarver and Davis’s willingness to take action.

Both Tarver and Davis have children of their own, and Davis has grandchildren. “When it comes to something like this, I hope any person in America would stop like we did,” Davis said. “I love my grandkids to the end of the world. I would never want a child to be hurt or missing.”

For their good deed, TCA has presented Tarver and Davis with certificates, patches, lapel pins, and truck decals. Earl L. Henderson Trucking Co. also received a certificate acknowledging that two of its drivers are Highway Angels.

TCA’s Highway Angel program is sponsored by EpicVue. Since the program’s inception in August 1997, hundreds of drivers have been recognized as Highway Angels for the unusual kindness, courtesy, and courage they have shown others while on the job.