DAGGETT COUNTY, Utah (ABC 4 News) - Search crews have found a 12-year-old Boy Scout missing since Friday morning near Spirit Lake, and rescuers tell ABC 4 he is in good condition.
Daggett County Public Information Officer Karen Peterson tells ABC 4 a search group on ATVs spotted 12-year-old Jared Ropelato on a side road near Longs Park Canal around 8:40 a.m. Saturday.
Peterson estimated the boy hiked nearly five miles from where he was reported missing. The scout told crews he built a shelter with sticks and slept beneath it.
Rescuers transported the boy to the command post, where Peterson says he was given medical tests and determined to be in good condition.
Ropelato, from Hooper, Utah, was on a camping trip with his fellow troop members and leaders before he disappeared.
The group hiked into the Spirit Lake area Thursday night and camped, Peterson tells ABC 4. On Friday, the group was fishing at the lake around noon when they noticed Ropelato was missing.
Officials say that spotty cell phone service limited communication.
Peterson says that a Boy Scout leader contacted the boy’s family via text message. The family member then called the sheriff’s office who organized a search.
Around 200 people on foot and horseback participated in the search, Peterson says, including dog teams from Salt Lake City, Ogden and Wyoming.
Peterson says the Ropelato's reunion with his family members was extremely emotional, and several of the searchers were also in tears following the positive outcome.
Stay tuned to ABC4 and ABC4.com for more information on this story.
