Evan Thompson returned to school Thursday and enjoyed celebrity status.
“They gave him a little party,” said Art Gray, who, with his wife, Teddi, is a guardian of Evan.
“It was like a little pizza party,” Gray said, remembering that Evan had asked for pizza when he was rescued Tuesday afternoon.
It was the whole student body at Peiffer Elementary School in south Jefferson County, he said.
“He was ecstatic,” Gray said. “It was all of his friends. They gave him a big stack of ‘glad you’re back’ letters,” as well as several to Evan’s rescuers.
Evan, who is 8, was found tired and hungry but physically OK about 4:20 p.m. Tuesday after being lost since early Saturday in the mountains north of Cañon City while on a camping trip.
“They saw him on TV, and they were concerned about him,” Gray said of the reception, which lasted about an hour. “He was overwhelmed.”
It was the last day of school.
“He missed his friends. He was so happy to be there with his friends,” Gray said. School is a “huge” part of Evan’s day, he said.
There also were about 20 letters to the rescuers expressing thanks, with such sentiments as, “Thank you for finding our friend Evan” and “We love our friend Evan. Thank you for finding him.”
Gray said the letters would be forwarded to the people and organizations that took part in the four-day search.
One searcher, a professional tracker, was impressed with how Evan survived the ordeal, Gray said.
“The tracker said he can’t wait for him to turn 18, because he’d love to have him,” Gray said the man told him.
The Gray family has a boat and likes to spend time in the Grand Lake area. He said they would probably take Evan camping two or three more times this summer.
Staff writer Jim Kirksey can be reached at 303-820-1448 or jkirksey@denverpost.com.
