Missing three-year-old found alive after two days lost in freezing woods

A three-year-old boy has been found safe and well more than two days after he wandered off alone into the woods.

Casey Hathaway disappeared on Tuesday afternoon after playing with two other children in his grandmother’s back garden in Ernul, a rural community ringed by forests and swamps in North Carolina. When the other children went back into the house, he was not with them.

In a 911 call transcript published by local news station WITN, Casey’s grandmother tells the operator that family members had spent around 45 minutes searching the woodland backing onto her garden but could not find a trace of the boy.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

“He’s walked in the woods back there and we can’t find him,” she said.

Hundreds of volunteers turned out to comb the area on Wednesday, but were “told to stay away Thursday due to heavy rains and strong wind”, reports the Associated Press.

Overnight temperatures in the area have recently dipped below freezing, and Craven County Sheriff’s Office had warned that the search area included “treacherous” terrain.

“Areas are flooded and filled with sinkholes, even the trained searchers are having trouble navigating safely,” a spokesperson said.

The poor conditions and the boy’s young age meant that hopes of his safe recovery were dwindling, until emergency services received a tip from a member of the public yesterday evening.

Sheriff Chip Hughes told local news station WCTI that the boy was located “40 to 50 yards” into the woods,“tangled up in some briars”.

Hughes said that Casey was cold, wet and “a little lethargic”, but otherwise appeared unharmed.

He was taken to hospital, where he remained overnight. An FBI spokesperson said this morning that he “is in good health, is talking and being evaluated by doctors”.

At a press conference last night, Casey’s parents thanked the local community for their support.

“We just want to tell everybody that we’re very thankful that you took the time out to come search for Casey and prayed for him,” said his mother, Brittany Hathaway.

She told reporters that her son was did not appear to have been harmed by his ordeal”.

“He’s already asked to watch Netflix, so he’s good,” she added.