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Boy Scout Missing in Rugged N.C. Park
AP via Washington Times ^ | 3/18/7

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 ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: North Carolina
KEYWORDS: beprepared; boyscouts; bsa; scouting; scouts; scoutsboyscouts
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To: Scoutmaster; SandRat; Tax-chick
I am following this story with great frustration. A 12 yo who is already First Class. Got all the emails from the district training staff with reminders about the buddy system bright and early this morning. Spent the late morning thanking God for the SM my boys have...

My oldest son just sent in his Eagle application and is waiting for his BOR to be scheduled.

I'm wondering if it is time to add Wilderness Survival as an Eagle-required badge. I made both of my sons do the badge as a mom-required badge last year.

61 posted on 03/19/2007 11:47:59 AM PDT by MarMema
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To: Scoutmaster; SandRat
Speaking of Wilderness Survival

"There were two 15-year-old counselors but no adults present at the campsite."

62 posted on 03/19/2007 11:53:00 AM PDT by MarMema
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To: Scoutmaster

You dog! You're going to the World Jambo? Any chance you could pick me up a patch or two?


63 posted on 03/19/2007 12:13:16 PM PDT by RonF
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To: Scoutmaster; All

Any FReepers going to the BSA National Annual Meeting in Atlanta this summer?

Prayers for Michael.


64 posted on 03/19/2007 12:25:28 PM PDT by Quilla
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To: Scoutmaster; MarMema
Didn't she know your hubby was married to THE Tax-Chick? She had no chance!

LOL! I think I'd just had a baby :-).

Congratulations on the Eagle Scout (to be), MM! Bill is a Star Scout now, and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader. Our second son is going on his first campout with the Boy Scouts this weekend. I believe I'll have everyone watch "Wilderness Bob's Outdoor Survival" DVD again before they go!

65 posted on 03/19/2007 1:49:47 PM PDT by Tax-chick ("I don't know you, but I love who you seem to be.")
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To: Quilla
Warning: this reply is NOT about the missing Scout.

The three best things about the BSA Annual Meeting are:

    talking with the volunteers with 50+ years in Scouting about "how things used to be;"

    luck of the draw in seating for the Region Banquets (I once sat between the curator of Norman Rockwell works at the National Museum and the Eagle Scout who had been selected for a six-month stint in Antarctica by the London Geographic Society); and

    listening to some of the stories of Scouts who were receiving awards for saving lives during the preceding year.

The young man who became famous as the helicopter pilot shot down and taken POW during the first weeks of Afghanistan is an Eagle Scout from Texas. I think I've already written about his (unintentionally) hilarious description of being shot down and taken POW during the National Meeting in Philly a few years back.

66 posted on 03/19/2007 3:06:53 PM PDT by Scoutmaster (You knew the job was dangerous when you took it, Fred.)
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To: RonF
You dog! You're going to the World Jambo? Any chance you could pick me up a patch or two?

What would you like? My personal Holy Grail is one of the red Iceland pullover Scout uniform shirts.

67 posted on 03/19/2007 3:08:55 PM PDT by Scoutmaster (You knew the job was dangerous when you took it, Fred.)
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To: Scoutmaster

What great experiences you've had!

I'm sure my husband and the upwardly-mobile Bill-Scout would love to have patches. If you had one extra, Bill could give it to his Senior Patrol Leader, an extremely superior young man, who has the Coolest Haircut on Earth, or so I'm told.

(He seems to like our daughter, which is not a bad thing, as long as he gets a haircut eventually :-).


68 posted on 03/19/2007 3:33:39 PM PDT by Tax-chick ("I don't know you, but I love who you seem to be.")
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To: MarMema; Tax-chick
Congratulations on the Eagle-Scout-to-be. Given your role as a frequent poster on Scouting issues, just let me know when your son makes Eagle Scout and I'll send him something meaningful from my Scouting collection.

Tax-Chick: Any insight on the NC Scouting boards about how and why this young man may have wandered away?

69 posted on 03/19/2007 3:35:15 PM PDT by Scoutmaster (You knew the job was dangerous when you took it, Fred.)
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To: Scoutmaster; All
"Any insight on the NC Scouting boards about how and why this young man may have wandered away?"

It's unlikely it was because of a call of nature, because he took lunch with him. As the result of fishing, I discovered the bloodhound trail leads only from the camp to his candy and chip wrappers, and mess kit. It doesn't lead anywhere else. That's not good, and indicates someone else is involved, since a 12y/o can't cover a scent trail. I wonder how far the roads are from this site?

70 posted on 03/19/2007 3:46:35 PM PDT by spunkets ("Freedom is about authority", Rudy Giuliani, gun grabber)
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To: MarMema
A twelve-year old First Class Scout doesn't bother me much -- particularly if the Scout attended a good summer camp. Scouts who do not earn First Class within the first year are MUCH more likely to drop out of Scouting. Don't remember if it was in writing, but I have been encouraged to get Scouts to FC within eighteen months.

I am highly distressed, instead, with at least 99 of every 100 fourteen-year old Eagle Scouts I've ever met.

71 posted on 03/19/2007 3:47:07 PM PDT by Scoutmaster (You knew the job was dangerous when you took it, Fred.)
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To: Scoutmaster; All
"Search dogs first took rescuers to an area about three-quarters of a mile west of where the Boy Scout troop had been camping. There they found part of his mess kit with candy and potato chip wrappers nearby, said David Bauer of the National Park Service, which is assisting in the search. Those dogs continued on his scent, which took them back to the camping area."
72 posted on 03/19/2007 3:50:21 PM PDT by spunkets ("Freedom is about authority", Rudy Giuliani, gun grabber)
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To: spunkets

Thanks. Doesn't sound good that the scent trail disappears, but I'm not a tracker. I've only backpacked in two areas of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Both were close to roads -- but they weren't all in common use, and the terrain and vegetation could be disorienting.


73 posted on 03/19/2007 3:54:24 PM PDT by Scoutmaster (You knew the job was dangerous when you took it, Fred.)
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To: SmithL

Not much for suing unless valid, but if anything happened to the kid, they better sue the crap out of them. So many wrong moves on so many people.


74 posted on 03/19/2007 3:59:02 PM PDT by napscoordinator (.)
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To: Tax-chick
I've been blessed with great experiences.

I'll be certain and pick up something for the Tax-Chick Scouts when in England.

The newest interesting things I have are large "blanket patch" copies of the Centenary Patch (like the English version I sent for your Scouts for whom I didn't have Iraqi Scouting patches) in about fifteen different languages other than English.

75 posted on 03/19/2007 3:59:44 PM PDT by Scoutmaster (You knew the job was dangerous when you took it, Fred.)
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To: Scoutmaster

The suggestions from "knows somebody who knows somebody" is that this boy didn't really want to be on the trip, because it turned out his closest friends didn't go. Speculation is that he might have wanted to cause a stir because of being "odd man out" with the other boys. Nothing is definite; third-hand etc. discussions.

The latest data make me wonder if he might not have called somebody on a cell phone to get him. (I know boys aren't supposed to have cell phones on outings, but his troop seems to have blown off some very important rules!) Are his parents together, I wonder, or divorced?

If we're all still FReepin' when Bill gets his Eagle, he'll expect a Scouting antique, too :-).

I've talked with Bill and my husband about your opinion on younger boys' doing Eagle projects, and Bill thinks it makes sense. He's talking now about being an Eagle Scout when he's 16, instead of 14. I'm sure it's relevant that the Coolest Senior Patrol Leader on Earth ("Would you like to marry my daughter, young man?") is currently working on his Eagle at 17!


76 posted on 03/19/2007 4:05:58 PM PDT by Tax-chick ("James doesn't want to 'Go away, please, James' !!!" said James.)
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To: Scoutmaster

I can track and am familiar with dogs capabilities. It's been dry there, so tracking should have been easy for a competent tracker. Now things have probably been messed up. Now a tracker would have to go wide to pick up any trail, and differentiate it from the path's of the search parties. Since the dogs have a clear trail between the camp and the spot, but no where else, there must be someone else involved. I'm assuming the dog handler's know their business and didn't clue them to a non-Scout member of the search party. They did have the kid's bedding, so...


77 posted on 03/19/2007 4:06:48 PM PDT by spunkets ("Freedom is about authority", Rudy Giuliani, gun grabber)
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To: Scoutmaster

Tom (#2 Scout) likes to tell other boys about his Iraqi Scouts patch.

Anything different from the local patches will be appreciated. Maybe in a few years, our troop will plan a Jamboree trip. We've just got a new Scoutmaster (put in several years with the Cubs) who's very enthusiastic.


78 posted on 03/19/2007 4:07:48 PM PDT by Tax-chick ("James doesn't want to 'Go away, please, James' !!!" said James.)
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To: MarMema; RonF; AppauledAtAppeasementConservat; Looking for Diogenes; Congressman Billybob; ...

MarMema,

Sounds as if you've got and SM that understands that the most important part of Scouting is outing and that means woodscraft.

Good luck to your son on the BOR.

As to making Wilderness Survival as an Eagle-required badge, that's perhaps a good idea.


79 posted on 03/19/2007 4:08:19 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: MarMema
"There were two 15-year-old counselors but no adults present at the campsite."

That's a flagrant violation of Safe Scouting rules. The COR should be thinking about a change of SMs.

80 posted on 03/19/2007 4:14:23 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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