Prescott (WQOW)- After 21 hours of searching, a missing five-year-old boy was found safe.
Scotty Meyer, who has autism and cannot speak, wandered away from home Tuesday morning around 11 a.m. His family lives in the town of Oak Grove, southeast of Prescott. As law enforcement started looking for him, volunteer after volunteer came out to help. They walked through tall grass and covered some rough terrain in almost 100-degree weather, but they didn't have any luck. Tuesday night, the sheriff's department told volunteers to head home while officers searched through the night.
More than 1,000 volunteers braved the high temps once again Wednesday morning, showing up to help find Scotty. One man, along with his dog, found the boy around 8 a.m.
"We have a little boy about the same age and we would do anything for him so we knew we had to come out and help," says Jason Moser, who lives in Ellsworth.
Moser spent about three hours looking for Scotty on Tuesday night. There were no signs of the boy, so he, like several hundred other volunteers, came out on Wednesday to search again. His dog, Autumn, joined him on the search on a bluff near the Mississippi River. Moser says Autumn needed some water because it was so hot. "She started heading off in a direction and she looked like she knew where she was going and I don't know if she heard it first but I could hear a little whimpering and a little touch of crying sound and so I headed off just as fast as I could running in that direction," Moser remembers.
Moser says he found Scotty next to a tree, wearing no shoes and no shirt. He says the first thing Scotty did was reach for a bottle of water. "I just talked to him for a minute, maybe two, just to comfort him a little bit and I knew there was somebody else who was probably 50 to 100 yards away," Moser says. "I just started yelling for help. I would do anything I could to get somebody's attention and luckily, she had a radio and a GPS."
Moser says it took rescue crews about 15 minutes to get to them.
"There are rocks, big rocks, almost a sheer drop-off cliff," explains Moser. "I was trying to get out. I was grabbing onto branches, grabbing onto trees, whatever I could to get out and I knew there was no way to get him up and out." Because of that, Moser went down to the railroad tracks where EMS crews met him. They went up and were able to get the boy out. They took him away on ATV to get checked out by medical personnel. When Moser made it back to the base, he saw Scotty's parents reunited with their lost son.
"I saw them grab that little boy so fast. They just took him right into the ambulance," Moser says, tearing up. "I don't know what else you can do. We have a four-and-a-half year old and we'd do the same thing. It's overwhelming and it's such a relief that he's okay."
Moser says when he found Scotty he had some mosquito bites and a few scrapes but overall, he was okay. Scotty was checked out at the hospital. He was thirsty and tired, but it appears that he will be just fine.
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PRESS RELEASE FROM THE PIERCE CO. SHERIFF'S DEPT.
On July 4, 2012, the Pierce County Sheriff's Dept. continued search efforts in attempting to locate Scott N. Meyer, age 5. Scott had been missing since 10:50 a.m. on July 3, 2012. Search efforts continued throughout the night and at 7:00 a.m., K9 teams were sent into the areas along the bluffs by the Mississippi River. A citizen, with his K9, located Scott at 8:05 a.m.
Scott was located on the bluff near the Mississippi River. The area is described as wooded, with steep hills and ravines. Scott's condition was assessed and he is healthy... in good condition with some bug bites. Scott was transferred by ambulance to Children's Hospital to be evaluated. He did not have any life-threatening injuries and has been reunited with his parents.
The Pierce County Sheriff's Dept. wants to express its sincere appreciation to all of the family, volunteers, fire, ambulance, police agencies and individuals that assisted our department in this effort.
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PRESS RELEASE FROM THE WISCONSIN EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER
Pierce County Search: A 5-year-old boy who had been missing since around noon on Tuesday was found safe this morning near his Prescott home. Pierce County officials have been conducting a search since yesterday for the boy, who is a non-speaking autistic child. He was found in a wooded area by a good Samaritan and his dog, just a half mile away from his home. Officials say he has been reunited with his parents and appeared uninjured. He was taken to a local hospital as a precaution.
Officials say over 1,000 volunteers were at the local school early this morning to assist with the search. Numerous resources from state and local fire, EMS, emergency management, law enforcement and volunteer agencies were used in the search. This includes air assets from WI State Patrol, Minnesota State Patrol and Lifeline Helicopter. In addition, a Department of Natural Resources Incident Management Team was deployed. Other state agencies involved in the search include Wisconsin Emergency Management, WI State Patrol and WI Department of Justice - Division of Criminal Investigation.
Pierce County Sheriff Nancy Hove wanted to thank all volunteers and agencies from both Wisconsin and Minnesota that were involved in the search.
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Pierce County (WQOW) - The man who says he found Scotty Meyer this morning says he heard whimpering and then discovered the boy in a ravine about a 1/2 mile from the family's home in Pierce County.
The man told WQOW News 18 he was out searching when he heard the boy whimpering. He said Scotty was dirty, but seemed to be OK. He said the first thing Scotty did was reach out for a bottle of water.
The Pierce County Sheriff's Office says the child is being treated for minor problems.
WQOW News 18 will have more on this throughout the day.
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Pierce County (WQOW) - Five-year-old Scotty Meyer has been found in Pierce County this morning.
The sheriff's office says he is alive and is being treated for minor problems.
Law enforcement says it would like to thank the community and volunteers for their overwhelming support. We'll have more on this story throughout the day.
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PRESS RELEASE FROM PIERCE CO. SHERIFF'S OFFICE
The Pierce County Sheriff's Office is no longer looking for volunteers for the search tonight. We will not be using civilian volunteers for night time searches but we will continue to search through the night.
If you are interested in volunteering in the search on 7/4/2012 please come to the Prescott High School, 1220 St. Croix St; Prescott, WI 54021 at 8:00 am. Wear long pants, tennis shoes and bring bug spray and water. There will be additional shuttles leaving throughout the day to bring volunteers to the search area.
If you are interested in volunteering please report to the staging area there is no need to call the Sheriff's Office. If Scott is found we will make that information immediately available to the media.
The Sheriff's Office appreciates all the help and support from the volunteers and community today.
The Sheriff's Office is also being assisted on scene by the Minnesota State Patrol Flight Wing, Wisconsin DNR, Ellsworth Fire Department, Ellsworth Ambulance, Prescott Fire, Prescott Ambulance, Prescott Police, Goodhue County Sheriff's Office, Washington County Sheriff's Office, Schafer Franconia Fire, Minnesota Search and Rescue, Spring Valley Ambulance, Elmwood Ambulance, River Falls Fire, River Falls Ambulance.
If you have any information reference the whereabouts of Scott please call the Pierce County Sheriff's Office at 715-273-5051.
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Pierce County (WQOW) - Hundreds of people are helping in the search for a missing child in Pierce County.
Five-year-old Scotty Meyer wandered away from home around noon on Tuesday. Law enforcement says his mother was helping a repairman fix the air conditioner while the kids were playing outside. That's when Scotty disappeared. The family lives on 1165th Street in the Town of Oak Grove, southeast of Prescott. Law enforcement says the boy has never wandered away before, but there's no reason to believe he was abducted.
Scotty is autistic. He does not speak, but he can hear. That has made a difficult search even more complicated. More than 300 volunteers have shown up to help. They have been going out in groups of 15 or so. The search is covering a radius of five miles. The Mississippi River is about a mile from the family's home and law enforcement has one boat set up along the river. A Minnesota State Patrol helicopter has been used in the search efforts along with a plane from the Wisconsin State Patrol.
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Pierce County (Press Release from the Pierce County Sheriff's Office) - On Tuesday July 3, 2012 at approximately 11:56 a.m. the Pierce County Sheriff's Office was notified of a missing 5-year-old boy at the address of N4842 1165th Street in the Town of Oak Grove. The name of the child is Scott Meyer. He is a non-verbal autistic boy that also goes by "Scotty." He is 3-feet tall with blond hair, last seen wearing green shorts and no shirt with a buzz cut.
If you see the child or have any information regarding the whereabouts of the child please call the Pierce County Sheriff's Office at 715-273-5051.
At this time if the public wishes to help they can report to the address of N4842 1165th Street.
The search is ongoing at this time agencies assisting are Ellsworth Fire, Ellsworth Ambulance, Prescott Fire, Prescott Ambulance, Red Wing Fire, River Falls Fire, Hudson Fire, Roberts Fire, Wisconsin State Patrol, Goodhue County Water Patrol and Mounted Posse, Minnesota State Patrol, Wisconsin DNR and Minnesota Search and Rescue.
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Pierce County (WQOW) - Authorities are searching for a missing Prescott boy.
That search started earlier today. Both the Minnesota State Patrol and the Wisconsin State Patrol say they're assisting with the search efforts from the air.
The boy is five years old. WQOW News 18 is waiting for law enforcement to release more details about him and the search. We'll post those as they become available.
