One of the kids is gone and no one knows where or has seen them . Follow this step by step first
Ask all the other children where lost child is.
If any of them seem wary or suspicious then they may know something and are afraid to speak , Watch their eyes as you are doing this as they will look in direction of where child may be or if they look at another child then the other child may know something.
Find out who was with him-her last and ask questions .
- Have they seen any one else , strangers at camp.
Check all Vehicle Trunks , If one is locked get it unlocked quickly.
- Look around camp and make sure there are no old refrigerators , check refrigerators in campers and also any storage bins , luggage , coolers, etc.. If so quickly check them .
- Check the children’s shoes to see what type of soil they have in the shoe treads.
- Check the childrens finger nails to see what they were up to . Is there soil under nails?, Is there mud?
- Are their shoes wet ?
- If so get down to the nearest stream or pond quickly while dragging the kids with you.
- Is the stream , pond water muddy and looks disturbed ?
- If so Call 911 Now ! Don’t wait
- Are there crocodiles in your region ?
- Start getting other camp members notified to begin search .
- Listen for any animal sounds that may be present . Have you been hearing Coyotes or wild dog packs lately and didn’t pay attention ?
- Look for signs of wild hogs.
- Has someone gone to town and didn’t bother to mention that they took your kid for a ride as they’d be right back ?
- Check the camp outhouse as in look down in it , and drag the kids there , If lost child has fallen in the other kids will be acting strange and you better start climbing in to search .
- Check the deer stands , They may have been climbing the ladder up while you’ve been searching for them .
- Call in the dogs , Bloodhounds to track them down, You’ll need a piece of their dirty clothing so have that ready for when the trackers get there .
- If it now looks like they have just wandered off then call 911 and begin search where they were last seen and slowly walk their trail but do not destroy it -real search and rescue will want to visually see their tracks so walk along side and try not to damage their trail.
- Keep the other kids out of search so that their tracks do not intermingle with lost child’s tracks.
- They will usually go downhill into darker woods , into a ravine or gully that’s thickly wooded .
- You’ll need to search thoroughly every tree, every stump, every fallen tree, a hollowed out standing or fallen tree is a favorite when a kids lost . . They go inside and can not hear you yelling for them so you may walk right by them and they will not answer , Not because they don’t want to but because they don’t hear you clearly because of the density of the wood and any noises they do hear frighten them so they don’t answer because at a certain point they get scared and they don’t know whats out there so they instinctively stay put.
- Yelling for them may not do any good at all if they have hunkered down inside a tree or backed up into a small gully as the combined noise of multiple people yelling all at once will sound more like a wild animal instead of a crazed parent .
- Get out a Topo Map of area and look for old mines , buildings, etc, Virtually all old mines have ventilation shafts around and near them , These are small and usually deep and are typically hidden in vegetation.
- Is there a old rail line close by , Check it and even drive down to an intersecting road and try to backtrack towards camp on foot while searching.
- Check your own camp roads that may lead out of camp to neighboring properties.
- Get someone out to surrounding hunt camps to get word out and make sure they have phone number.
- Start charging up multiple flashlights and get out survival blankets and cold weather gear .
- Get multiple thermos of hot coffee ready.
- If you have any spotlights get them out and ready.
- Start a large stew – Pot Luck and keep it warm .
- Check all your hunt cams for any activity and reposition them where he -she may have been last.
