So far, rescue workers say they’ve found some food scraps and part of Michael Auberry's mess kit.
Posted on 03/18/2007 2:40:41 PM PDT by SmithL
TRAPHILL, N.C. (AP) -- Search teams combed mountain terrain Sunday for a 12-year-old Boy Scout who disappeared during an outing.
About 10 scouts and the adult leaders of Troop 230, from Greensboro, noticed that Michael Auberry was missing between 12:30 p.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday in Stone Mountain State Park, officials said.
The troop had gone on a hike earlier Saturday, and the boy and an adult stayed behind, said David Bauer, a ranger with the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was not immediately clear why they stayed behind.
After the troop returned and ate lunch with Michael and the adult, the troop noticed the boy was missing from camp. Searchers found part of his mess kit less than a mile away late Saturday,
(Excerpt) Read more at ap.washingtontimes.com ...
Oh, dear. Twelve is old enough to know better, but young enough to forget everything he's been taught.
(NC ping)
I just read the BSA rules on the net. I was a Life Scout. There were plenty of times a Scout would stay behind with an adult, and no one would even dream that any of the adults were child molesters. The suggestion would generate at least a broken nose, and most likely be worse. I'll never understand, or condone this suspicion, or overkill that every adult is a closet child molester. All those times I sat in discussion and conference with some adult connected with scouting would be banned today, and the adult would be considered more, or less a criminal with ulterior motives.
Scouts! All Scouts in the Area! Rally to help!
The rest of us PRAY!
youth protection gone awry
I don't like the irrational suspicion of child molestation either. Besides, the article makes it clear the boy was wearing pants when he left.
.....why?.....
because every adult must take youth protection training to be regestered and participate in Scouting activities.
The executive in charge of the sponsoring institution must certify all are properly trained.csponsoring instutition
Suspicion is not the topic of discussion. The point is the man left himself open to suspicion by one on one.
Prayers up - I have a 12 yo.
It sticks out like a sore thumb on the thread.
"The point is the man left himself open to suspicion by one on one."
No, he definitely did not. As I pointed out above, after having read the rules myself, if the boy had a problem and he couldn't/didn't want to go on hte hike, the sit was fine.
For Merit Badge counselors, it can be one adult and two or more scouts, and it can include the adult's own child. Or, it can be more than one adult with one child. I frequently held Merit Badge sessions in my living room, and my wife and kids were always around. Scoutmaster conferences can be out of earshot, but not out of sight. The rules apply to travel, also. I always made sure that the last kid in the car was my own.
When these rules were first implemented I went from feeling insulted, to just being amused. I got over all of that once I figured out that being a Scout Leader was a near-perfect set-up for a child molester (picture Alec Baldwin alone with a Scout in a tent).
I absolutely loathe people who use positions of authority to prey upon children, and I appreciate the BSA trying to keep those kinds of people away from from Scouts. The BSA works very hard to protect the children in its charge, and I'm willing to help.
Prayers for the young man's safety.
"today's society"
It was no different then, than it is now. Except, back then, a child molester would rather be caught by the adults than any one of us. CMs were always around.
So far, rescue workers say they’ve found some food scraps and part of Michael Auberry's mess kit.
Auberry is described as Caucasian with reddish-brown hair, about 5 feet 4 inches and weighing 110 pounds. Investigators said he was last seen wearing blue jeans, a red jacket with reflector tape on it, and a dark North Carolina Tarheel baseball cap.
"We're really hopeful," his father, Kent Auberry, told the Winston-Salem Journal.
Auberry cried while describing a spot searchers had found where it appeared someone had sat on a rock and drawn in the dirt with a stick.
He said his son has been a Scout for about a year and has a first-class rank.
Searchers were moving off the trail and into rugged terrain Sunday afternoon and were expected to suspend the search when night fell because of the risks involved, Bauer said.
The boy was wearing pants, a shirt and a coat. The Sunday afternoon temperature at Mount Airy, about 25 miles northeast of Traphill in northwest North Carolina, was in the low 40s, the National Weather Service said.
Stone Mountain State Park covers nearly 13,750 acres.
Search crews included volunteer firefighters, National Park Service staff and rescue squads from the state park system and Alleghany and Wilkes counties. A Highway Patrol helicopter equipped with an infrared sensor that can detect body heat was sent to assist the search.
Of all the places to get lost you don't want it to be Alleghany County in the winter. Hope he found some kind of shelter. It was very cold last night.
Praying for his well being.
Hey, scout rules also say no gay scout leaders, but we had a gay man run for office locally and we found his name listed as the local cub scout leader (oddly, he did not include that on his list of accomplishments on his campaign web site).
Some troops would have sent a second scout to the hospital, so that there were two boys with the adult.
My Son's troop is extremely meticulous about this.
The fact that the paper thought it noteworthy to mention that they stayed alone, and the discussion here, reveals why the rule is a good rule to follow.
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