UPDATED: Joshua Childers will not be released Friday

KSDK -- Three-year-old Joshua Childers has been upgraded from "fair" to "good" condition, but the boy will will not be released from the hospital Friday, Jefferson Regional Medical Center spokesman Rick Fischer said Thursday.

• PHOTO GALLERY: Missing boy found
• PHOTO GALLERY: Search for missing boy
• PHOTO GALLERY: Boy wrapped in blankets, loaded onto ambulance

The toddler from southeast Missouri was found Wednesday afternoon, putting an end to an exhaustive search that lasted more than two days. Joshua spent the night surrounded by family at Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Crystal City.

Fischer said doctors want to be certain he is in good shape before he is released, adding it's not unusual to keep small children in the hospital for another day or two to be treated for dehydration.

The entire nation is still talking about the little boy who survived more than 50 hours alone in the Mark Twain National Forest.

He disappeared from his Arcadia home around noon on Monday and wandered into a wooded area.

Madison County Sheriff David R. Lewis said Joshua was found at 4:05 p.m. Wednesday, about three miles from his home.

Adam Childers said his son was doing well considering his ordeal. He was a bit dehydrated but listed in fair condition by the hospital. His father said he's unsure how his son was able to survive.

"You doubt if God's actually with you for a while and then something like this happens and you know He's there," he said.

Childers said Joshua has been asking for milk and hot dogs since the rescue.

Donnie Halpin, a construction worker in Fredericktown , was identified as the volunteer who found the boy. Halpin had the day off because of the poor weather. With nothing else to do for the day, Halpin told his wife he was going out to volunteer with the search team.

Halpin said he had been separated from his own search party when he stumbled across the boy. He noticed two dogs sniffing around the ground and walked over to investigate.

"I think (the boy) was laying there asleep," Halpin said. "I said, 'Hey, buddy,' and he just sat up. I said, 'You want to go home?' And he said, 'Yeah.' And I just reached down and picked him up and just put his arms around me and we hiked on down the mountain."

Halpin said if he hadn't heard the dogs he would not have found the boy. He was uncertain who the dogs belonged to, but was sure they did not belong to the family.

The boy was dirty and had a few scratches on his leg, according to Halpin, but would answer questions.

Joshua was taken to Iron County Hospital and doctors have said he's in "fair condition," according to Iron County Hospital CEO Ed Gast. Joshua was transported to the Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Crystal City Wednesday night.

Rick Stockham, a neighbor of Josh's grandmother, came out Tuesday and Wednesday to help with the search party. He said the woman's only wish was to see the boy alive one more time.

"She got her wish. She got her miracle today," Stockham said.

Stockham said he knew the boy from the neighborhood.

"He does have a lot of resiliency and he's a very tough kid," he said.

Most of the locals who came down to volunteer for the search party were delayed early Wednesday morning because authorities wanted to organized the search with radios and GPS, according to Stockham, but finally relented and let the locals get into the woods to begin searching again.

Overnight rains had made conditions in the search area tough to traverse. Stockham said the search dogs could not pick up a scent, the ATVs would have drowned out any of the boy's cries for help, and the water level at some creeks would have been at the boy's chest height.

Police said Joshua disappeared as his father, who works nights, was asleep, and the little boy's mother was on the phone, for a period of about five minutes. The family spent about 45 minutes searching for Joshua before they called authorities.

On Monday, searchers found one of the little boy's shoes about three-quarters of a mile from his home. Since that find, the search for Joshua had been narrowed not far from the home.

Wednesday morning was a hard time for the extended Childers family. Joshua's grandmother started to lose hope that the child would be found safe.