Search operation for an 8-year-old who vanished in Oregon has been renewed. Samuel Boehlke went missing twenty years ago in 2006 in the Crater Lake National Park. He was last seen on Oct.14 around 4 pm.
The 8-year-old was walking with his father when he suddenly ran into the woods and disappeared. The two were walking near the Cleetwood Cove trailhead as mentioned in the press release from the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office.
When the boy started running towards the woods, his father called him, but he continued to run and disappeared. Despite search efforts for Samuel, he could not be found anywhere. Now, the search by Oregon authorities has been renewed after almost two decades.
The boy’s mom, Kirsten Becker, revealed that Samuel has autism. It has also been revealed that Samuel used to run like this, playing a game. However, he wasn’t formally diagnosed, he may have been on autism spectrum. His mother added that she was a stubborn kid and borderline passionate due to his condition. Moreover, he had a fear of noise and bright light.
He was also fond of hiding in small places; besides that, he was pretty normal. Kenneth did run after his son to catch him, but it turns out the little boy wanted to play the game and did not want to be caught.
So he was well ahead of his father, and when the dad reached the woods, he could not locate Samuel anywhere. After several years, she has remained connected to people who led the search operations for her son.
She added, “It should have been easy, and we should have been able to find him, and that’s frustrating to them.” Meanwhile, she did not blame her husband, as he was ‘absolutely devastated’ by their son going missing.
At that time, his father, Kenneth Boehlke, thought they were just playing a game, him running into the woods. How far could he have even gone? He also revealed how his son liked to find yellow pumice stones, calling them gold, spotting them near Crater Lake.
During the initial search, a snowstorm hampered efforts. It was disheartening not to have found a trace leading to the boy. Kenneth revealed that, “Anything they can do to find something related to him so we can put him to rest would be great. We still wonder exactly what happened.”
The parents believe their son may have died but still hope to find any evidence related to his disappearance. The mother adds, “You just always want evidence.” Her son was last seen in a long-sleeved green and black striped shirt, blue winter coat, cargo pants, and suede shoes. Not finding any clues related to his disappearance has caused immense grief for the parents.
The sheriff’s office also added in their statement, “We are proud of our Search and Rescue volunteers for the dedication and diligence they demonstrate during both urgent rescue operations and decades-old missing persons cases.”
