We’re thankful that because of searchers who wouldn’t give up, there was a happy ending to the saga of 8-year-old Evan Thompson, who was lost four days in the mountains northwest of Cañon City.
Too often, such episodes end in tragedy, but fortune smiled on young Evan. His experience underscores how important it is for supervising adults to keep a wary eye on children in the the wild.
The Lakewood boy was camping with an unidentified teacher and family friends before wandering off shortly after breakfast Saturday morning. He was wearing a sweat shirt, athletic pants and a pair of Spider-Man sneakers that left distinctive footprints. He had no food, water or survival gear with him.
More than 90 searchers from around the state and a National Guard helicopter scoured the countryside covered with scrub oak, and dotted with hazards like sheer cliffs and loose rocks.
Evan’s spider-web shoe prints and holes he’d poked in numerous anthills led his rescuers from Vail Mountain Rescue to him Tuesday afternoon in the Hole in the Rock Gulch area, 5 miles from the campsite, said his aunt and guardian Teddi Gray.
The adults who took the boy camping hadn’t yet given him basic safety instructions, which any child should receive before going to the high country.
Children should be told what to do in case they get lost: Stay put; find shelter at the base of a tree; it’s OK to talk to strangers in search parties; you’re not in trouble for being lost; your family wants you back. Also, youngsters should have a whistle and a small metal signal mirror to summon help, and water with them at all times in the back country.
The happy ending to Evan’s story is in sharp contrast to the case of a Commerce City boy whose grandmother locked him in a dog cage for 11 hours at a time while she went to work over the last three years.
It is essential that all of us be alert to potential abuse and alert authorities if necessary. In this case, the abuse ended when a schoolmate did just that.
