After a 17-year-old boy with autism went missing on Friday in Egg Harbor Township in South Jersey, police searched relentlessly for him, including in treacherous conditions.
Bodycam video exclusively shared with NBC10 showed the moments officer found the teen nearly 36 hours after his disappearance in the middle of dense woods.
“It was truly amazing. We found him. He’s alive. He’s okay,” said Capt. Michael Finnerty, of the Egg Harbor Township Police Department.
The disappearance quickly set off an intense search, with local police quickly accepting help from state and federal agencies, as well as volunteers.
“We wanted to leave no stone unturned, and we end up doing that for 35 plus hours,” Finnerty said.
On Sunday morning, the search finally made a turning point when officials began using aerial infrared imaging technology provided a breakthrough searchers needed.
“There was a heat source that looked like someone sitting up against a tree, you know,” Finnerty said. “Almost cold and holding his knees.”
In the bodycam video, the teen can be heard saying “I can’t find my mom and dad.”
“We’re going to find them for you,” the officer responded.
Officers had to make their way through very thick brush and really rugged terrain to get to the teen and then bring him out of the woods. And remember, they were also dealing with darkness.
“Pockets of water, swampy areas, thickets…you can’t hardly get through,” said Egg Harbor Township Police Chief Fred Spano.
But the officers were able to get to the teen and bring him to the nearest road for an emotional reunion with his loved ones.
“For anyone involved in this, this was a kind of one of those cases that you’ll remember, you, long after you retire,” Spano said.
The teen was checked out at a hospital, but he is okay.
