Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Michael Auberry, the Boy Scout from Greensboro, North Carolina who went missing on Saturday was found alive by rescuers at 11:00 a.m. EST.

“We have our missing Boy Scout,” said Tina White of the United States National Park Service.

“Search and rescuers who located him have their hands on him. He is in the care of search and rescue workers. Probably the most important thing we heard on the radio is A-1, which means he is in good condition,” added White.

The 12 year-old boy was dehydrated but unharmed. He went missing when he walked away from the campsite, during lunch time, where his scout troop was staying in the mountains of North Carolina. He wanted to sleep in Saturday morning and stayed behind at the campsite with an adult scout leader.

“He was in good spirits [when he disappeared]. He ate lunch, chatting with the boys. He was walking around with I think some Pringles and a mess kit. The next moment, sounds like a blink of the eye, he was gone,” said the boy’s father, Kent Auberry.

Members of the boy’s church were praying for his safe return when the news broke that he was found alive.

“This shows that when everybody works together, good things happen. We just believed that he was going to be found,” said Susan Norman Vickers, the associate minister of the Christ United Methodist Church.

The boy had been missing for over 4 days. Some 70 people with heat detecting equipment and a plane helped in the search.