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Searchers find missing Boy Scout's mess kit, footprints

Story Highlights

• NEW: missing boy's mess kit found half mile from camp
• The boy, 12, was discovered missing after group at lunch
• No sign of foul play or signs he was injured, rescue spokeswoman says
• Temperatures in 20s Saturday night; Sunday forecast is for temperatures in 50s
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WILKESBORO, North Carolina (CNN) -- Authorities searching for a 12-year-old Boy Scout missing since Saturday found his mess kit near where he had been camping with members of his troop near the Blue Ridge Parkway, officials told CNN Sunday.

The missing boy, Michael Auberry, of Greensboro, North Carolina, had remained with an adult at the campsite while other scouts went for a hike, said Dave Bauer of the Blue Ridge Parkway National Park Service.

When the other scouts returned, they ate lunch with Michael who later disappeared from the camp, Bauer said.

Once scouts and their leaders noticed Michael was not in camp, they began a search and, within a half hour, called the park service, Bauer said.

More than 100 people searched nearly 10 square miles of wilderness in western North Carolina.(Watch how searchers are looking for the boy Video)

Helicopters equipped with infrared heat-sensing devices joined the effort Sunday as did searchers on all-terrain vehicles, David Weldon, the search commander said.(Watch Weldon describe search efforts - 4:13 Video)

Searchers also found footprints which match the pattern of the soles of the shoes the boy was wearing, said Weldon.

Searchers found Michael's mess kit about a half-mile from camp, Bauer told CNN. "That gives us a direction of travel," said Bauer, who did not specify which direction.

"We are not really sure why or what happened," Saundra Lewis of the Wilkes County Rescue Squad told CNN. "He was seen at the campsite and then a few minutes later he was missing."

She said there is no sign of foul play or any indication he was injured.

Lewis said the missing boy did not take his backpack.

Some 140 searchers were pushing through heavy underbrush in the area, but that number will be reduced overnight, Weldon said.

"We just can't search with that many people at night, it's just too dangerous," Weldon said. "We'll have to scale the search back to clearly marked trails."

Temperatures dipped into the 20s Saturday night with "some blowing snow" in Stone Mountain State Park, which is west of Interstate 77 near the Virginia state line. Sunday was sunny with a temperature of around 50, but it was predicted to drop to the 20s overnight.

Michael had been taught to cover himself with leaves as protection against the cold, Bauer said.

The white, 5'4", 110-pound boy has reddish-brown, curly hair and was last seen wearing blue jeans, a red jacket with reflective tape and a dark blue hat.


story.missing.scout.nps.jpg

Michael Auberry went missing on Saturday after separating from his scout troop on a camping trip.

MISSING BOY'S DESCRIPTION

  • White male, 12
  • 5 feet 4 and 110 pounds
  • Reddish-brown curly hair
  • Wearing blue jeans, red jacket with reflective tape, dark blue hat
    • RELATED

      • Local coverage: :  WFMYexternal link
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