A Boy Missing In Woods For 11 Days Revealed How He Survived
Hiking through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park ironically isn’t what you would call a “walk in the park.” Dense spruce forests, high altitudes, and blankets of fog make it very easy to get lost in those hills. Austin Bohanan knows that all too well, as he was separated from his stepdad there. Authorities launched a massive search and rescue mission, but as the days ticked on and there was still no sign of the missing teen, things looked bleak. Then there was a shocking development: Austin emerged out of the woods. And he had quite the tale to tell...
Hunting for a precious plant
On August 11, 2017, Austin and his stepdad Hubert Dyer Jr. had been hiking through that very national park. But they weren’t there to see lush forests and wildflowers. Oh no — they were looking for something altogether more precious...
Their target was ginseng
The duo actually wanted to find wild ginseng — a herb found in energy drinks and medicines. Removing it from the park would’ve been illegal, but the plant sold for as much as $600 per pound in certain markets. It was too good an opportunity to make some money.
A big mistake
While the pair were hiking along the mountains, however, Hubert realized he’d lost his glasses, so he doubled back to find them. Austin, meanwhile, conducted his own search for his step-dad’s eyewear.
On the hunt
But as Hubert and Austin both combed the park for the glasses, they wandered further and further away from each other. Before he knew it, Hubert couldn’t find his stepson.
Seemingly vanished
Hubert naturally looked around for Austin and called his name, but he just couldn’t catch sight of him. Yet he refused to admit defeat. In fact, he and the rest of the family were so sure that they could relocate Austin that they didn’t report the teenager missing until two days later.
The authorities step in
Finally, the authorities were called in. Tasked with the mission to find Austin, Steve Kloster, the chief ranger for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, launched a massive search operation. How massive? More than 100 people were involved.
All systems go
Helicopters equipped with infrared technology hovered above the 6,700-acre piece of park marked off as the search area. Meanwhile, canine units from the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency tracked Austin’s scent...
Plenty of volunteers
More impressively, 100 volunteers gathered in 90-degree weather and searched the Smoky Mountains. And the Bohanan family served snacks and drinks to the searchers — which had to be a relief in the heat.
Keeping hope alive
All the while, Austin remained elusive. But the authorities never gave up hope that the teenager was surviving out there. “He was young. He was in shape. There was all kinds of water out there,” Kloster said at a press conference about the missing teen. “The weather wasn’t, you know, 10 degrees below zero. If he was in those areas, I felt confident he was still alive.”
Such a long search
Still, after 11 days, the search parties hadn’t found Austin. “[I cannot] right off the top of my head remember [a search] that went longer than this one did,” Kloster told the Knoxville News Sentinel in 2017. Would he finally have to call off the dogs?
A huge shock
But just before everyone gave up, a miracle happened: Austin walked out of the dense forest, completely unscathed! When word of this reached his mother Brooke, she understandably broke down into tears.
Crying with relief
Overcome with relief, Brooke embraced Great Smoky Mountains ranger Les Kwiatkowski in a picture-perfect moment. But what had made this possible? How had Austin survived 11 days on his own in the often-unforgiving wilderness?
“I wasn’t scared or anything"
Well, once he realized that his stepdad was long gone, Austin — an avid camper — went into survival mode. “I wasn’t scared or anything,” he later told ABC News. “I just knew that I had been separated, and I needed to do something about it.”
Couldn’t call for help
The teenager climbed to the peak of a ridge where he tried on several occasions to phone his mom. The calls failed. So, he spent the night there. Then, in the morning, he found a stream — a life-sustaining source of water.
Following his instinct
From there, Austin said to ABC News, “The main thing was just keeping my calm, keep my cool, just keep moving. It’s just instinct that came out.” As he wandered, the community held a candlelight vigil.
Completely without food
Shockingly, Austin never ate anything over those 11 days, though he admitted he came close to chomping on a bug once or twice! “I felt hungry the first couple of days, and after that the hunger just kind of went away,” he revealed to ABC News.
Finally finding humans
Eventually, Austin walked alongside a creek that emptied out into a body of water. There, he spotted boats, including one carrying a man and his daughter. They were the first humans he had seen in 11 days!
Lucky break
“[I] waved them down [and] hollered at them,” Austin recalled. “[The man] asked if I was the one they’d been looking for, and I said, ‘Yes sir, I guess so.’” It was a very lucky break for the teenager.
Reunited with dad
And it was that boater who finally brought Austin back to civilization. There, the teen gave his father a tearful hug. Even the rescue teams finally took a moment to celebrate his return.
Semper fi, Austin
Not long after the traumatic ordeal, Austin joined the United States Marines. Clearly, developing survival skills became quite important to the young man. Knowing what to do in an emergency is often underrated until you find yourself in a dire situation and are wishing you knew what to do. And by that point, it's often too late.
