Missing Australian teen with autism found alive after six days in bushland
Police say the 17-year-old, found asleep by a creek, is in good spirits and mostly in good health after a helicopter rescue.
A boy aged 17 with autism was located alive on Thursday, Nov. 12, after six days lost in bushland near Walhalla, a former gold-mining town about 185 kilometers east of Melbourne, in Victoria, Australia, according to the AP. Police identified him only as William. He had been camping with a friend and was last seen about 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6, after walking a brief stretch away from camp toward the drop-off point to collect more gear.
He did not return. The search involved more than 100 emergency services personnel and volunteers, according to the AP. A police helicopter crew spotted him asleep beside a creek, shirtless and sunburned, and winched him to safety.
He was reunited with his mother, Elizabeth, and taken to hospital for monitoring. Police said his spirits were high and his health was mostly good. Acting Police Inspector Jason Benbow said William had trekked over steep terrain for days and spent the last two days at the creek, about 2 kilometers from his campsite.
His mother said she was "over the moon" and joked that he is "grounded for life." His family says he has Level 2 autism.
- six daystime the boy was lost in bushlandCBS News
- more than 100emergency services personnel and volunteers in the searchCBS News
- 185 kilometers (115 miles)distance of Walhalla east of Melbourne, per the APCBS News
- 2 kilometers (1.2 miles)distance from his campsite to where he was found, per BenbowCBS News
Three sides of the story
11 news outlets reported this
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Liberal4 outlets
The rescue, his autism and his mother's joke
CBS News carries the AP report under the headline "Boy found alive after 6 days lost in wilderness," adding his mother's "Grounded for life" joke. It opens with the autistic teenager found alive after six days, then gives police accounts of the helicopter crew finding him asleep on a flat rock beside a creek, and Acting Police Inspector Jason Benbow's description of the steep terrain. It adds that his family says he has Level 2 autism, which the advocacy group Autism360 says requires "substantial support," and it lists earlier dramatic rescues in Australia.
The Guardian's headline notes that he went missing wearing only shorts and boots. It reports that his stepbrother combed the zone, that his phone, food and water were left behind, and that on Wednesday investigators asked hunters, campers and landowners for information once a hunting camera turned up in the search zone. Al Jazeera English reports that an aerial search located the 17-year-old in dense bushland, six days after he went missing.
Center5 outlets
The helicopter rescue and the teen's condition
DW leads with the boy found alive after six days and reports that the aerial crew noticed a fishing tackle box before finding the boy asleep on a rock in a dry riverbed. UPI, with a Nov. 12 dateline, describes the Victoria Police video of the reunion, names his mother as Elizabeth Barkley and quotes Benbow: "He's happy. He's smiling."
Both say police reported he walked for days, then fell down an embankment or riverbed side two days earlier and waited. BBC reports that extremely cold overnight temperatures had worried authorities, says police dogs, divers and helicopters joined the search, and quotes the mother saying he "just stayed in one spot." It gives Friday morning as the time he was found.
The Seattle Times runs the AP wire report, which says spring weather had been mild with little rain and that the boy has autism.
Conservative2 outlets
The boy with autism found alive, police account
The New York Post runs the AP wire report under the headline "Missing teen is found alive after 6 days in the Australian woodlands." It opens with the 17-year-old boy with autism found alive on Thursday and places Walhalla 115 miles east of Melbourne. It relays police saying a helicopter crew found him asleep on a flat rock beside a creek, and describes video showing him shirtless and sunburned in shorts and boots, with towels as blankets.
Benbow is quoted saying he trekked up and down "some very steep terrain" and, on waking to the helicopter, gave a thumbs up before being winched to safety. It reports that more than 100 emergency services personnel and volunteers searched and that spring weather had been mild. His mother's joke that he is "grounded for life" is included, as is his family's statement that he has Level 2 autism.
- Centrist outlets did not mentionThe search involved more than 100 emergency services personnel and volunteers Reported by CBS News, New York Post
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- Day the boy was found
- BBC News: Friday morning
- CBS News, UPI, New York Post: Thursday
All sources: 12 articles from 11 outlets
Liberal (5)
- ABC News: A missing teen is found alive after 6 days in the Australian woodlands
- Al Jazeera English: Missing teenager found in bushland during aerial search in Australia
- CBS News: Missing Australian boy found alive after 6 days in the wilderness
- CBS News: Boy found alive after 6 days lost in wilderness: "Grounded for life"
- The Guardian: Australian teen who went missing in bushland wearing only shorts and boots found alive after six days
Center (5)
- BBC News: Australian teen missing in bush for six days rescued alive
- Deutsche Welle: Australian teen found alive after six days in the bush
- NewsNation: Teen with autism found alive after 6 days lost in Australian woodlands, police say
- The Seattle Times: A missing teen found alive after 6 days in Australian woodlands
- UPI: Police find teen missing for six days in rugged Australian bushland
Conservative (2)
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