Boys found after getting lost in woods

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Bon Secour's fire chief said two kids got lost in the woods near Skunk Creek Friday, Dec. 28, and were found cold and hungry Saturday morning.

The problem sounds simple enough.

“They decided to go squirrel hunting. It got dark, and they couldn't find their way out,” said Steven Stuart father of 9-year-old Steven.   

Stuart and his wife became worried when their 9-year-old son didn't return home at dark, on Friday.

“Me and my daughter went riding around the neighborhood looking for him, calling his name, went to friends house -- knocked on doors, and they ain't seen him,” said Stuart.

They learned that their son went in the woods with a 13-year-old, who was also missing.

Stuart called the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office and the Bon Secour Fire Department were called in to help with the search around 9:30 p.m.

Several agencies got involved in the search, including the KlaasKids Foundation, which brought dogs, but it was Bon Secour Fire Lieutenant Joe Parker and two junior fire fighters who located the lost boys.

“Joey called in the coordinates that they had run in to very wide and deep water and thick brush that was virtually impassable. But they kept making their way through it, and they had hollered out the kids name and basically they hollered back,” said Bon Secour Fire Chief Paul Shoenight.

Stuart said it took the rescue crew about 25 minutes to get the kids out of the woods, through Newbury Lane.

“When they first found them, the kids were pretty cold and was hard to move around and the kids actually made a bed and was going to sleep the night there,” said Chief Shoenight.

Stuart said he's thankful to all the agencies that helped locate his son.

“His hands were purple. He was cold because the temperature dropped down real low and it didn't have anything on but a T-shirt. His body temperature was 92, so we had to take him to the hospital and get him heated up,” said Stuart, “I asked him was he alright and he said, ‘Yeah, I'm hungry.’ And I knew he'd be hungry because he eats all the time.”

Stuart said his son is back to playing, but said he won't go into the woods again.

Chief Shoenight said if you plan to go in the woods, he recommends taking a compass, flashlight, and wearing clothes that will keep you warm.