Mahouts take elephants into search and rescue operation of toddler in Thailand

Four elephants mounted by their mahouts have joined the search for a 2-year-old boy from Myanmar who has been missing in Thailand for a week, as hundreds of rescuers comb through a sugarcane field for traces of the missing child.

Sului Piew, a son of migrant workers from Myanmar, went missing Dec. 17 when he went out to play near the sugarcane plantation where his parents work. Nimit Wanchaithanawong, the governor of Suphan Buri province, says Sului's family was alerted of his disappearance when his 3-year-old friend told her parents that she saw Sului being abducted. The latest to offer assistance to the search operation is the mahouts and their elephants, who will scour the vast plantation for signs of life.