Post by rainman on Oct 19, 2007 6:01:35 GMT -5
Missing hiker found alive
By Tom Breen
Associated Press Writer
CHARLESTON— An autistic hiker who had been missing for four days in the Dolly Sods Wilderness area was found in remarkably good shape, sleeping under a bush.
Jacob Allen was listed in good condition Thursday night at Davis Memorial Hospital in Elkins, where he was to be kept overnight for observation, according to a hospital spokesman.
Since being taken to the hospital, Allen has eaten some jello and broth and is smiling, said Chris Stadelman, a spokesman for the search effort.
“To the best of our knowledge, he was just hungry and thirsty and fatigued,” said Jim Reneau of Grafton, one of the nine searchers who found Jacob Allen Thursday afternoon, about a mile from where the 18-year-old Morgantown man’s hat was found Monday.
“It was a very emotional experience,” Reneau said at a news conference Thursday.
Reneau’s son, Jeremy, a 25-year-old physician’s assistant, was the first person to spot Allen.
Allen was lying on the ground surrounded by laurel bushes. When Reneau called his name, Allen opened his eyes and rolled over to meet his rescuers.
“He was very quiet, he was non-verbal,” Jeremy Reneau said. “But you could tell by his body language he was hungry.”
Rescuers fed Allen candy bars and peanut butter sandwiches and tried to walk him out of the wooded Dolly Sods Wilderness Area. When Allen became too tired, they carried him out on a litter.
The Reneaus joined the search for Allen for the first time on Thursday, because Jeremy had the day off from work.
“We were all just there to try to help,” Jim Reneau said. “We were in the right place at the right time.”
The Allen family did not immediately respond to interview requests Thursday.
“The family is all together,” said Stadelman. “As soon as they heard the report he was alive and doing fairly well they gathered in a prayer circle.”
“I think the whole state’s relieved,” said Lara Ramsburg, spokeswoman for Gov. Joe Manchin, who visited the Allen family Wednesday night. “We’re all relieved for him and his family.”
“When I heard it, of course I was so elated I burst into tears,” she said Thursday night. “There’s really no word to describe the feeling you get to hear something like this, so happily, you know.”
Allen wandered away from his parents Sunday afternoon while hiking on the Boar’s Nest Trail in the Randolph County section of the wilderness area, which is in the Monongahela National Forest.
Neighbor Pauline Morris, 86, said she had been praying for the Allens, who she described as “the nicest family.”
Hundreds of volunteers and trained professionals had been combing the woods, calling for “Jake” to come to them for food. After each yell, Stadelman said, the searchers would pause to listen if Allen made into rustling sounds in the brush. Allen mostly communicates non-verbally, and searchers were worried he would be unable to respond to their shouting his name.
Overnight temperatures dropped to as low as 38 degrees on the nights Allen was missing. He was wearing hiking boots, a long-sleeved T-shirt, a wind jacket and wind pants.
By Tom Breen
Associated Press Writer
CHARLESTON— An autistic hiker who had been missing for four days in the Dolly Sods Wilderness area was found in remarkably good shape, sleeping under a bush.
Jacob Allen was listed in good condition Thursday night at Davis Memorial Hospital in Elkins, where he was to be kept overnight for observation, according to a hospital spokesman.
Since being taken to the hospital, Allen has eaten some jello and broth and is smiling, said Chris Stadelman, a spokesman for the search effort.
“To the best of our knowledge, he was just hungry and thirsty and fatigued,” said Jim Reneau of Grafton, one of the nine searchers who found Jacob Allen Thursday afternoon, about a mile from where the 18-year-old Morgantown man’s hat was found Monday.
“It was a very emotional experience,” Reneau said at a news conference Thursday.
Reneau’s son, Jeremy, a 25-year-old physician’s assistant, was the first person to spot Allen.
Allen was lying on the ground surrounded by laurel bushes. When Reneau called his name, Allen opened his eyes and rolled over to meet his rescuers.
“He was very quiet, he was non-verbal,” Jeremy Reneau said. “But you could tell by his body language he was hungry.”
Rescuers fed Allen candy bars and peanut butter sandwiches and tried to walk him out of the wooded Dolly Sods Wilderness Area. When Allen became too tired, they carried him out on a litter.
The Reneaus joined the search for Allen for the first time on Thursday, because Jeremy had the day off from work.
“We were all just there to try to help,” Jim Reneau said. “We were in the right place at the right time.”
The Allen family did not immediately respond to interview requests Thursday.
“The family is all together,” said Stadelman. “As soon as they heard the report he was alive and doing fairly well they gathered in a prayer circle.”
“I think the whole state’s relieved,” said Lara Ramsburg, spokeswoman for Gov. Joe Manchin, who visited the Allen family Wednesday night. “We’re all relieved for him and his family.”
“When I heard it, of course I was so elated I burst into tears,” she said Thursday night. “There’s really no word to describe the feeling you get to hear something like this, so happily, you know.”
Allen wandered away from his parents Sunday afternoon while hiking on the Boar’s Nest Trail in the Randolph County section of the wilderness area, which is in the Monongahela National Forest.
Neighbor Pauline Morris, 86, said she had been praying for the Allens, who she described as “the nicest family.”
Hundreds of volunteers and trained professionals had been combing the woods, calling for “Jake” to come to them for food. After each yell, Stadelman said, the searchers would pause to listen if Allen made into rustling sounds in the brush. Allen mostly communicates non-verbally, and searchers were worried he would be unable to respond to their shouting his name.
Overnight temperatures dropped to as low as 38 degrees on the nights Allen was missing. He was wearing hiking boots, a long-sleeved T-shirt, a wind jacket and wind pants.
