Any word on the missing NC boy scout?

[mom2boys]

I can't seem to find any updated info. This will be the third night the boy will be spending in the elements. It breaks my heart to know he is out there all alone in the frigid temperatures.

Anyone know if they have located him yet?

 

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

Nothing yet according to Anderson Cooper. They've brought in infrared radar detectors to try and locate him.

I wonder if they've looked into the possibility that he might have been kidnapped...

 

[mom2boys]

One of the news stations did report that an Amber alert had been issued "just in case".
I have two boy scouts about his age. As in most cases when a scout goes missing, it seems that many of scouting's most important policies were not followed. The "buddy system" is mandatory, however, the kids often "forget". Another thing I don't understand is why there was only one adult left at camp with the scout. Youth protection requires that no adult be alon with one scout - even your own child. You must have a minimum of two scouts and one adult or vice versa. It is to protect both the scouts and the adults.
I hope and pray that the scout has found some sort of shelter from the cold night air.

 

[tar heel]

http://charlotte.com/115/story/57238.html

I don't believe the Amber Alert thing is true -- at least our media is saying that was reported in error.

My 12-year-old and I spent Saturday night with my parents about 20 miles away from Doughton Park, and it was cold as heck. My heart just breaks for this little guy.

 

[KadysMom]

I hope they find him soon, but I remember hearing on the news last night that they found his map, and then quite a bit away from that they found some more of his belongings. So that sounds odd....

 

[Pam]

One of the news stations did report that an Amber alert had been issued "just in case".
I have two boy scouts about his age. As in most cases when a scout goes missing, it seems that many of scouting's most important policies were not followed. The "buddy system" is mandatory, however, the kids often "forget". Another thing I don't understand is why there was only one adult left at camp with the scout. Youth protection requires that no adult be alon with one scout - even your own child. You must have a minimum of two scouts and one adult or vice versa. It is to protect both the scouts and the adults.
I hope and pray that the scout has found some sort of shelter from the cold night air.

I had the same exact thoughts as well. (Scout Mom here, too!)

My son's Troop has always enforced not only the Buddy System - boys must travel in pairs -- but the rule that an adult is never alone with a Scout.

What a sad and tragic situation. I'm praying for his safe return.

 

[Hannathy]

What I heard was HE broke the rules not the leader. They were taking a break after eating lunch and that there were leaders there but HE wandered away on his own. He was 12, old enough to know to follow the rules. He also didn't follow the cardinal rule of being lost that you stop and stay put, which as a Scout he should have known also.And I would bet he would have been found by now. So maybe everything was according to Hoyle but this 12 yr old decided to not listen. I can't fault the leader for that. It is a shame but it really points out why rules are in place. I hope they find him and it is really too bad. Every time it comes on the news I use it to say to my son, stay together and stop if you think you are lost and sit down and stay.

 

[KristiKelly]

No word yet. Here's a link to two of our local news stations if anyone is interested.
http://www.myfoxwghp.com/myfox/
and another
http://www.wfmynews2.com/

 

[mom2boys]

The missing scout has supposedly achieved his First Class rank. If he truly earned the rank, he has more knowledge of surviving the elements than most adults.


I know first hand how the buddy system can be "overlooked" by the scouts. I was a cabin mom at a summer camp last year. The camp was actually split between two separate campgrounds within a National Park. Six of our guys had there merit badge class in the camp about 1/2 mile up the mountian. Four of the six were first years. Every day they arranged to meet at the Totem Pole to walk back to our camp for lunch and at the end of the day. Not a day went by that they didn't leave without one of the boys. The first day, they left the boy who "organized" the meeting place. It was never the same boy left behind, everyone of them got left at least once. Some of the left behind boys were good about finding someone to walk them back to our camp. More than once it was two staffers from the merit badge side of camp. The two older scouts had the same merit badge classes, so they were always together.
After the second time, I started sending the group back to find the kid they had left. Still boys ended up without buddies.

 

[mom2boys]

http://www.wfmynews2.com/news/mostpopular/article.aspx?storyid=81547&provider=top

Fourth Day Of Searching Dawns For Missing Scout
The darkness and chilly temperatures won't stop the search for the missing Greensboro boy scout. Michael Auberry disappeared around lunch time Saturday during a camping trip.
Wilkes County, NC -- The search for a missing Greensboro boy scout continues.
Wilkes county rescue crews used thermal imaging equipment and walked the trails overnight, in the area where 12-year-old Michael Auberry was last seen. Rangers say he wandered off from his boy scout troop's camp site on Saturday around lunch time.
Auberry went missing while attending an overnight camping trip Saturday at Doughton Park in Wilkes County. He was staying at a primitive camp site at the park near the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Search crews are also using helicopters and bloodhounds to look for the boy. They say they're currently operating a "search and rescue" mission. They say given his dress and the survival skills he's been taught, they expect to find him alive.
Investigators say Auberry was last seen wearing a UNC baseball cap, a red reflective jacket, blue jeans and hiking boots. Auberry was wearing a pair of wire-rim eye glasses.
His parents are especially concerned because they say Auberry suffers from ADD and hasn't had any medication since Saturday. They say the disorder can cause him to become distracted and he has been known to wander off.
Authorities told reporters they had issued an Amber Alert, but that was rescinded because they do not believe foul play is involved.
Auberry is a scout from Troop 230, which is based out of West Irving Park United Methodist Church.
No one is sure how Michael disappeared. A park ranger involved in the search thinks he may have wandered into the woods to explore. About 10 scouts and their three adult leaders noticed him missing after returning to the camp for lunch between 12:30 pm and 1:00 pm Saturday. Michael had skipped a morning hike and stayed behind at the camp with an adult leader because Michael wanted to sleep in. The ranger says he was not aware of Michael having any arguments or problems with the troop members or his family.

 

[SwedishMeatball]

It's so sad. My son's pack is getting ready for their first camping trip soon, and you don't want to think about stuff like this happening.

 

[mom2boys]

What I heard was HE broke the rules not the leader. They were taking a break after eating lunch and that there were leaders there but HE wandered away on his own. He was 12, old enough to know to follow the rules. He also didn't follow the cardinal rule of being lost that you stop and stay put, which as a Scout he should have known also.And I would bet he would have been found by now. So maybe everything was according to Hoyle but this 12 yr old decided to not listen. I can't fault the leader for that. It is a shame but it really points out why rules are in place. I hope they find him and it is really too bad. Every time it comes on the news I use it to say to my son, stay together and stop if you think you are lost and sit down and stay.

I'm not blaming the leaders. I know how boys can be. Michael's parents have apparently told authorities that he has a tendency to wander away. The rule I was refering to was that the report that Michael had not joined the troop on the hike because he was sleeping so one of the adults stayed behind with him. There absolutely needed to be a minimum of two adults on the hike with the other nine boys. It would have been unfair to insist that another scout stay behind.

 

[RunDanceSkate]

What I heard was HE broke the rules not the leader. They were taking a break after eating lunch and that there were leaders there but HE wandered away on his own. He was 12, old enough to know to follow the rules. He also didn't follow the cardinal rule of being lost that you stop and stay put, which as a Scout he should have known also.And I would bet he would have been found by now. So maybe everything was according to Hoyle but this 12 yr old decided to not listen. I can't fault the leader for that. It is a shame but it really points out why rules are in place. I hope they find him and it is really too bad. Every time it comes on the news I use it to say to my son, stay together and stop if you think you are lost and sit down and stay.

The rules were broken when he and a leader stayed at camp that morning because he wanted to sleep in. That should Never have happened,

There is no sleeping in at camp, if you are too sick to do the activities that everyone else is doing, then you are going home
One kid and one leader are never left alone together

He was there when the others came back for lunch, then he wandered off. Two possible reasons that he may have run away are:

The other kids were teasing him horribly because he stayed at camp.

Something happened between him and the leader that stayed at camp that morning and he ran away.

I don't think that he wandered off, I think he ran away on purpose. I have seen kids who have thought they could walk home from camp. Other times leaders have refused to call the parents when a scout wanted to go home, so the scouts runs away figuring that he can find his way back after the leaders have panicked and called the parents.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

This is the first time I have heard this story, how sad. I pray that he will be found alive. Poor guy.

 

[Hannathy]

I hadn't heard he had stayed behind. I agree wholeheartedly that was wrong and never should have been allowed. You do what the group does period. I won't go so far as saying something happened between the scout and leader for heavens sake. It probably was a father of another scout. I was replying to the IMO accusations that the leaders did wrong and was saying we need to look at what the boy did and if he wandered away that was wrong and hard to prevent by the leaders. The boys are supposed to have some self regulating ability they aren't kindergarteners. And even if he stayed behind he was there at lunch and was seen by the troop and other leaders and then he left.

 

[nuke]

It's really sad and I hope they find the boy soon.

Two-deep leadership is not only for the boys protection, it's for the adult's protection. If there is an incident and you do not have the two-deep leadership when the incident happened, Council will not stand behind you. Just an FYI.

We have a Cub Scout family camp trip coming up in May. We did one in September and even pounding the buddy system into their heads for weeks didn't help. But we had enough adults to know where all the kids were at all times. We are trying again with the Spring Campout. We figure maybe if we do this twice a year the Tigers that started this year will have heard it enough to actually follow the rules by the time they are Webelos.

 

[dawn8226]

I just saw a headline on MSN that they found him alive.

 

[CarolG]

CNN.com also has a "breaking news" headline saying he's been found - no details yet. I hope he's OK!

 

[hentob]

FOUND ALIVE

 

[candykisses]

What a relief.