JACOB LAKE, Ariz. — Air Force helicopters and ground crews with dogs were searching Friday for a 5-year-old Arizona boy who wandered off from a remote forest campsite the day before while chasing grasshoppers.
The search began late Thursday after relatives of Jerald Joseph Williams of Colorado City reported he’d been missing for about four hours and friends and family couldn’t find him, the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office said. It continued Friday with no immediate results, said Gerry Blair, a sheriff’s spokesman in Flagstaff.
The boy was with a group of about 20 people at the campsite approximately 12 miles south of Jacob Lake in the Kaibab National Forest, the Sheriff’s Office said. The area is north of the Grand Canyon in a remote part of the state.
Searchers included U.S. Forest Service fire crews, sheriff’s deputies, search-and-rescue ground teams, state police and game officers and two helicopters from Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.
The military helicopters used night-vision equipment while searching overnight.
The missing boy was described as white, 3-foot-6 and 35 pounds, with brown eyes and very short brown hair. He was wearing hiking boots, blue jeans and a tan or gray shirt.
With nightfall approaching by the time authorities were notified, initial search efforts focused on driving roads in the area and setting up a perimeter, Blair said.
“We didn’t get this thing until 5:30 p.m. …,” Blair said. “We did as much as we could with both operations on the ground and in the air, but we were short on daylight.”
Blair said it’s not unusual for families to not immediately contact law enforcement if a child is lost. “We don’t get an immediate call because they think they can find him,” he said.
