FBI retiree reunites with baby he saved 22 years ago

Just two months after he joined the FBI, Special Agent Troy Sowers was put on a case that he would remember forever. It was 1997, and Sowers was still new on the job in Washington state when he was assigned to a kidnapping case, Inside Edition reports.

A woman posing as a doctor had stolen a baby from a mother who had just given birth. Authorities went on a 19-hour search for the woman, and when was taken into custody, she led Sowers to the baby boy she had abandoned.

Sowers found the boy in a cardboard box, alive.

“Over my 22-year career when people ask me highlights of my career I would always mention this, that I pulled a baby out of a box. But never really focused on it because it’s just one of the things we do,” Sowers told WATE.

As a rookie, Sowers was especially excited about the case. “For me it was all brand new, but this is the stories you hear about the FBI … So I was very excited about being part of it,” he said.

That was the start of a long, successful career as an FBI agent. The baby in the box made something of himself, too. He’s now a U.S. Marine.

When it came time for Sowers to retire, his daughter started looking for the baby he remembered rescuing. Then she helped plan a retirement party for her dad at the FBI. According to WATE, Sowers said he didn’t want anything special — just some coffee and donuts. But his retirement party turned out to be just as memorable as the first case he was assigned, 22 years ago.

First, Sowers was shown photos of Corporal Stewart Rembert. Then he was told Corporal Stewart was actually there — and that he was the same baby he rescued all those years ago.

“Today when I saw him, I had to pause a couple of seconds to keep my composure,” Sowers told Inside Edition. “This case was something I remembered throughout my career.”

Rembert was looking forward to meeting Sowers, too. “I was happy to tell him that I’m living a good life, and I’m going to continue living a good life. His efforts that day, and all of his efforts since, made a difference,” he said.

Rembert has been a Marine for three years — something that might never have happened if Sowers hadn’t rescued him. 

“I’m proud of anybody that serves others above themselves,” Sowers said. “The fact that he is now doing that makes that case even more special.”