After a two-day rescue mission, a four-year-old boy has been found alive after he went missing from his home in Montana.
Ryker Webb was reported missing on Friday afternoon after he was last seen playing with the family dog in his house near the east side of Bull Lake in West Montana. A missing-persons report was issued nationwide around 4:53PM after a concerned neighbor called 911, per the Daily Mail.
After an extensive search campaign by rescuers that lasted two days, officers were able to locate Ryker on Sunday, who had been outdoors for two days, according to a news release the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook.
NTD reports that Lincoln County Sheriff Darren Short said the child was discovered by the owner of a cabin near Pine Ridge Road and South Fork Bull River Road in Sanders County, about 2.4 miles from where he went missing.
The owner saw the boy in a shed, which Short suspects Ryker walked into after following a series of abandoned footpaths in the forest.
After the boy was reported missing on Friday, law enforcement officers immediately launched a search campaign, which included several drones, dog teams, and a boat unit.
Lincoln County Sheriff told KREM that the boy's family was distraught throughout the search, adding: "He and his dad were in the yard, the father went inside the home for a moment and when he went back outside, the child was gone.
"We have a very distraught family and a lot of concern over him."
The sheriff's office said the search was particularly challenging because "the dense vegetation in the area proved to be extremely difficult to search".
A news release from the sheriff's office added that the poor weather conditions consisting of "rain, low visibility, and low ceiling" made it "extremely difficult" to deploy extra air resources in the Bull Lake area.
According to the sheriff’s statement, Ryker was rescued on June 5 and was said to be "in good spirits and apparently healthy, although hungry, thirsty, and cold." He was later taken to Cabinet Peaks Medical Center for evaluation.
"Thank you to the many agencies and persons who assisted in this search," the sheriff's office added.
