Teen found after days missing
An autistic teenager who spent two almost-freezing nights missing in dense bush in Australia has been found alive, ending a search that involved hundreds.
Will Callaghan, 14, was found at lunchtime yesterday, two days after he walked ahead of his father as they trekked to the summit of Mount Disappointment, north of Melbourne.
The teen, who is non-verbal, is ‘‘alert, eating, drinking’’ and has asked for McDonald’s after his 47-hour ordeal, according to Acting Inspector Christine Lalor.
Will was reunited with his parents shortly after 1pm, in a tent at the base camp where police had set up a marshalling area to coordinate the search. A short time later, he was carried into a waiting ambulance, still wearing his rescuer’s jacket, by his stepfather Nathan, his mother Penny following close behind.
From the door of the ambulance, Callaghan said she was ‘‘obviously immensely relieved’’ and thanked the hundreds of volunteers who had searched for her son. She said Will had communicated to them that he was confused, scared and that his body felt ‘‘a bit weird’’, but he was otherwise okay.
‘‘More than anything, thank you everyone. I’m so grateful, you’re all amazing,’’ she said.
Volunteer Ben Gibbs found William standing in the bush not far from the summit, with his hands over his ears, blocking the noise of a helicopter above.
‘‘I came up from the bottom of the mountain, there is a single track there I know quite well. I just followed that up and went off track once I got near the top and saw where the guys had tagged where they searched previously and I went a bit deeper than that,’’ Gibbs said. ‘‘He was really angelic, just standing there.’’
Gibbs said he tried to relax Will and speak calmly to him, before giving him some chocolate, socks and a jacket. ‘‘I heard he liked Thomas the Tank Engine , so I talked to him about [the character]
Diesel. After he ate half the chocolate bar, I carried him out.’’
Almost 500 people in teams from the police force, SES and CFA searched for Will around the clock since Monday. Many concerned members of the public donated their time to join the effort and police were forced to turn some volunteers away.
The mood changed at the search site about 12.30pm as word filtered through that there had been a potential sighting of Will in the bush. At 12.46pm, Lalor confirmed the boy was Will.
Huge grins crossed the faces of volunteers and searchers when she announced the news, as friends of the family began crying tears of relief. - The Age