BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — The city of Brooksville honored a hometown hero on Monday.
In a proclamation, Roy Link was recognized by Brooksville city council members for his "heroic volunteer efforts" in the search for 2-year-old Joshua "JJ" Rowland.
On Feb. 23, Rowland was reported missing and gone for nearly 24 hours after the Hernando County Sheriff's Office said he wandered away from his home.
It was Roy Link, a third-generation Brooksville native and Marine Corps veteran, who found him roughly a mile and a half away from his home in a wooded area.
Ahead of the city council meeting, Link insisted on sharing the recognition with the roughly 500 volunteers who turned out to search for JJ.
"I feel like I'm coming here to represent the people and not myself," Link said. "If I'm a hero, then everybody is. Everybody was there, everybody was searching."
However, it was Link who canceled a planned fishing trip 10 days ago, opting to join search efforts for Rowland.
Roy told 10 Tampa Bay that he said a prayer and 10 minutes later, he heard Rowland in the woods.
"I felt like the spirit led me in a direction and that's the direction that I went," Link said.
Brooksville Mayor Blake Bell delivered the proclamation at the city council meeting on Monday night.
"[Roy Link] made the decision to put others first and search for Joshua 'JJ' Rowland. JJ and Roy will share a bond that will last well into the future," Bell said.
Beyond the proclamation, perhaps the most exciting part of Links's day on Monday, was speaking to Rowland's father for the first time since the 2-year-old was found.
"[His father] was just overwhelmed, he said the whole family is," Link said. "We said that we would meet in the upcoming days. He said he'd give me a call so me and JJ can catch back up and go from there."