Maybe I've missed something, but if the father knew his boy was autistic and might possibly try and run off, why would he stop the car? I truly feel that there is more to this story. This is so sad to think that this poor boy has been out there in the cold and possibly is no longer alive. Something just doesn't add up here.californiacarrie said:Autistic children run off all the time with no inclination of present dangers. My son does it frequently - sometimes naked.I can understand how this could have happened if indeed the child had autistic qualities.
OR OR - Samuel Boehlke-Becker, 8, Crater Lake National Park, 14 Oct 2006
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dark_shadows
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Ceremony marks end of formal search for Oregon boy
CRATER LAKE, Ore. The family of a boy missing at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon has held a ceremony to mark the end of the formal search.
The service featured Native American drummers and a small crowd singing Sammy Boehlke's (BEL'-keez) favorite lullaby, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."
More at link;
link
Respectfully,
dark_shadows
CRATER LAKE, Ore. The family of a boy missing at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon has held a ceremony to mark the end of the formal search.
The service featured Native American drummers and a small crowd singing Sammy Boehlke's (BEL'-keez) favorite lullaby, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."
More at link;
link
Respectfully,
dark_shadows
once again.. this kind of thing just astounds me. to wander off into the woods and just disappear.... how?? didn't i read that volunteers formed a human chain and covered every inch of space that the boy could possibly be in?
i am guessing he must have jumped or fallen into the lake.
i am guessing he must have jumped or fallen into the lake.
scandi
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I saw my mom yesterday who lives in Portland and always has the news on. She said she heard the father was playing tag with the son.
She's 85 and very savvy and thinks there is something haywire with the scenario.
I also didn't know the mother was in Italy when this happened. I feel so sorry for her and for the little boy. I don't know if the father is a victim right now. Wish we had more to go on.
If that little one fell in the lake I don't know if that little body would ever float up. They fish in the lake in one spot, allow no live bait - I mean they really protect the water so it doesn't get contaminated and kill the fish. The only way that lake is fed water is by melting snow and cracks in the lava and rain I think - no river in or out. So that means all the trees that have blown in the water over the years during wind storms are still there, and am worried he will become nestled in the branches, caught. Awful.
Where else could he be? The father didn't call 911 for 2 hours. That would be plenty of time to walk up intop the woods and find a hiding spot for the body. But they would see his tracks, that is unless he told LE the boy took off in a different place than he really did. And then it started snowing. I wonder if the dogs could scent through the snow?
I hope LE gets a lead of some sort soon.
Scandi
She's 85 and very savvy and thinks there is something haywire with the scenario.
I also didn't know the mother was in Italy when this happened. I feel so sorry for her and for the little boy. I don't know if the father is a victim right now. Wish we had more to go on.
If that little one fell in the lake I don't know if that little body would ever float up. They fish in the lake in one spot, allow no live bait - I mean they really protect the water so it doesn't get contaminated and kill the fish. The only way that lake is fed water is by melting snow and cracks in the lava and rain I think - no river in or out. So that means all the trees that have blown in the water over the years during wind storms are still there, and am worried he will become nestled in the branches, caught. Awful.
Where else could he be? The father didn't call 911 for 2 hours. That would be plenty of time to walk up intop the woods and find a hiding spot for the body. But they would see his tracks, that is unless he told LE the boy took off in a different place than he really did. And then it started snowing. I wonder if the dogs could scent through the snow?
I hope LE gets a lead of some sort soon.
Scandi
My guess about the father at this point is that he kept looking thinking he'd heard a noise or justifying that he was probably close by without realizing how much time had passed. I can easily see how time slips away from a person without them even realizing it.
His son had wandered off before from the Sellwood Community Center in Portland and they called in Police and Fire and Rescue to help search only to have his mom find him a couple of hours later and I guess she went out and called sammy's the best hider or something similar. I thought the article was in the Oregonian but of course I can't find the article mentioning this now.
His son had wandered off before from the Sellwood Community Center in Portland and they called in Police and Fire and Rescue to help search only to have his mom find him a couple of hours later and I guess she went out and called sammy's the best hider or something similar. I thought the article was in the Oregonian but of course I can't find the article mentioning this now.
dark_shadows
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Hi Gmommy,Gmommy said:
When Sammy wandered off before,a rescue team was formed.When he was found,Sammy's mother refered to him as the best hider.
With the father knowing this,why was this child away from the eyes of parental custody even for a moment.
1.It was said that he wandered away.
2.It was said that he ran off.
3.It was said that he was playing tag.
Which is it?
Father knows best.
Sorry,but the stories of the father do not add up.
Respectfully,
dark_shadows
dannyodie
New Member
maybe I missed some of the details of the search, but did they bother to bring scent dogs in? if not they sure botched that search.
gardenmom
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dannyodie said:
http://www.krem.com/topstories/stories/krem2_101706_ORmissingboy2.49733d82.html
In the article above it mentions that ,yes, they did use search dogs from volunteers.
From what I have read it sounds like the father and son were alone. It does not seem odd to me that the father waited 2 hours to call for help. Imagine you are alone with your own child and they run away. Your first instinct is to look for them. When you cannot find them right away you panic. You have to make a decision at this point. Do you stay, in case he comes back on his own? Do you look for him? What if you leave to find help and he comes back and you are not there? Will he then panic and leave again, looking for YOU? It just might take someone 2 hours to grapple with those thoughts. I know I would too.
What I want to know, is was this a planned trip with him alone with his son? Was this normal for them? Why were they there? Who saw the boy last? Maybe he never even took his son there and the whole story is a red herring. If I were the police I would sure be wondering by now if the boy was there that day at all.
The mother of a boy missing at Crater Lake wants your help.
8-year-old Sammy Boehlke disappeared Oct. 14 near the Cleetwood Cove Trail area near the lake's north rim. Days of intense searching after that turned up nothing.
The formal search has now ended, though some people continue looking. Now Sammy's mother, Kirston Becker of Portland, is bringing in search dogs. The first dogs arrived on the scene Wednesday morning. That canine search will cost money, so the family has set up a trust fund at U.S. Bank to help pay for it.
The public is being asked to donate that money at any branch of U.S. Bank. The fund is under the name "Samuel Boehlke-Becker".
http://www.koin.com/Global/story.asp?S=5588268&nav=menu494_2
8-year-old Sammy Boehlke disappeared Oct. 14 near the Cleetwood Cove Trail area near the lake's north rim. Days of intense searching after that turned up nothing.
The formal search has now ended, though some people continue looking. Now Sammy's mother, Kirston Becker of Portland, is bringing in search dogs. The first dogs arrived on the scene Wednesday morning. That canine search will cost money, so the family has set up a trust fund at U.S. Bank to help pay for it.
The public is being asked to donate that money at any branch of U.S. Bank. The fund is under the name "Samuel Boehlke-Becker".
http://www.koin.com/Global/story.asp?S=5588268&nav=menu494_2
scandi
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Something doesn't ring true here. With all of that combined force searching those woods, scaling down the rock rim of the crater to the lake and using dogs, I think they have been on a wild goose chase or they would have found him. A little boy could never go that far into these woods in a 2 to 3 hour time period because he would start to get cold and move slower, sit down and cuddle in his coat to try and get warmer.
I am thinking that the spot where the father said Samy ran off is not the true spot at all. And I am wondering if that is why the mother has instigated a new dog search. I bet they will try other areas up there. LE might have other areas in mind and might have talked to the mother about this. I wish she would hire a good psychic, as in cases like this they can be very valuable.
Scandi
I am thinking that the spot where the father said Samy ran off is not the true spot at all. And I am wondering if that is why the mother has instigated a new dog search. I bet they will try other areas up there. LE might have other areas in mind and might have talked to the mother about this. I wish she would hire a good psychic, as in cases like this they can be very valuable.
Scandi
WhiteWolf
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scandi said:
Hi, scandi, I thought the first dogs they brought in for the search scented Sammy, but lost the scent.
If there is something wrong with this, maybe Sammy was there earlier, but killed and taken somewhere else?
I agree with you about how far he could have traveled in a couple of hours, but the searchers were hampered by darkness the first night.
I'll go back and check the first couple of articles to see if I remember correctly before I comment anymore.
Quite frankly I'm not sure what to believe in this, it is a bit suspect to me that the mother is the only one seeking donations for search dog teams and that the mother and father are not jointly seeking public financial assistance. I think many people have seen missing persons cases where parents are divorced and/or seperated yet the parents still work as a united front, for the reports seeking donations to only state the mother is seeking these donations is the most damning more than any of the alleged statements of the boy's father.dark_shadows said:
The stories the father has provided are all as reported by the media, not from the actual police reports. He has said that the boy has wandered off before, he has said they had been playing tag that day and he has also said the boy ran off into the woods-but not all of the reports to me seemed all connected to the disappearance, more like the father running down the day's activities or just the way a certain news outlet chooses to report it, running or wandering. When you read them as you have written them yes, they do sound suspect and I would agree with you that things do not add up. Especially after an organized grid search turned up nothing, not even one sign of this child and now with the mother only seeking donations.
I guess we all just have to hope the dog teams and helicopters turn up something before Crater Lake gets buried in snow.
They were also hampered by 4-6 inches of snow from a report I read here:WhiteWolf said:
http://newsroom.blogs.oregonlive.com/default.asp?item=237062 Which would hamper both the people and the dog's ability to track the scent. This area is so rocky and heavy with trees and brush it is not a place anybody at any age would want to find themselves lost in.
scandi
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Thanks WhiteWolf,
I had never heard the dogs got his scent. Do you know if dogs can scent through snow? And the puzzling thing to me is if he were killed there is no way a grave or hole could have been dug as the ground is frozen. What could have happened to this little boy's body?
I don't know what kinds of hiding places there could be where they wouldn't think of looking. The rangers know that area like the back of their hands and would think they would give great input.
Scandi
I had never heard the dogs got his scent. Do you know if dogs can scent through snow? And the puzzling thing to me is if he were killed there is no way a grave or hole could have been dug as the ground is frozen. What could have happened to this little boy's body?
I don't know what kinds of hiding places there could be where they wouldn't think of looking. The rangers know that area like the back of their hands and would think they would give great input.
Scandi
scandi
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Hi Gmommy,
So you think he could still be up in those woods and just was not discovered? Do you think he could have traveled very far off the road? Do you think he could have run the opposite direction and went into the lake? Do you know if anyone has ever been lost in the lake before? Did their bodies surface or not?
Full of questions. They are so used to working in snow up there I can't see how that would hinder their efforts. I just don't know if the dogs are used to scenting in snow or if they can smell through it. Snow has all the impurities in the air that the flakes catch on their way down I think, and that might throw them off.
Scandi
So you think he could still be up in those woods and just was not discovered? Do you think he could have traveled very far off the road? Do you think he could have run the opposite direction and went into the lake? Do you know if anyone has ever been lost in the lake before? Did their bodies surface or not?
Full of questions. They are so used to working in snow up there I can't see how that would hinder their efforts. I just don't know if the dogs are used to scenting in snow or if they can smell through it. Snow has all the impurities in the air that the flakes catch on their way down I think, and that might throw them off.
Scandi
i still do not understand how or why a boy of that age, who was not severely retarded or mentally ill- just "slightly autistic" would just run off into the woods for no reason, and keep going further and further into the woods. it would be cold, his basic human instinct (unless he had an IQ of zero) would be to isoon turn around and come back to his father, especially if he was calling for him. even if he was hiding from him for a 1/2 hour or so, he would get cold pretty quick and think "gee, i better go back to my dad/the car so i can get warm." this is what led me to believe he was actually running or hiding FROM his father- perhaps his father was angry or threatening to punish him.. those are just guesses, but i just can't see why anyone would do that.
also i find the story 'we were playing tag' kind of odd.. if you were leaving a park, why would you stop the car by the woods and pay tag? most dads don't play tag with their kids.. especially not if you were in a huge park, by the woods, in the cold, and if yours had autism and was prone to randomly running off & hiding.
also i find the story 'we were playing tag' kind of odd.. if you were leaving a park, why would you stop the car by the woods and pay tag? most dads don't play tag with their kids.. especially not if you were in a huge park, by the woods, in the cold, and if yours had autism and was prone to randomly running off & hiding.
WhiteWolf
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Gmommy said:
I read it snowed later on Saturday night, too. I don't think that amount of snow would hamper the dogs too much, look at the search dogs that find skiers after an avalanche.
I've hunted for over forty years and one thing I learned is it's easy to get lost and turned around in the woods if you're not paying attention. I learned the hard way. I've also run into other hunters who were lost and didn't have a clue which way they needed to walk to find a road. If you climb up, it stands to reason you walk down if you're lost, but I read and found on my own, most people climb UP when they're lost. Weird.
WhiteWolf
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Does anyone know if the day Samuel went missing is the first night it snowed at that elevation? One article said the road was dry where his father parked at the pull-off. I'm curious because I live in Washington (by Canadian border) and it just snowed in the mountains here the last couple of days, but I do remember the news reporting snow in Oregon within the last couple of weeks.
It's hard for me to grasp starting a climb (reported in one article about what Samuel and his father were doing) at such a late time in the day. Most people who have climbing and hiking experience would be coming down the mountain at that time of day instead of starting a climb. Hunters usually stay in the woods until shooting stops at sundown, but that's because the game starts moving at dusk.
It's hard for me to grasp starting a climb (reported in one article about what Samuel and his father were doing) at such a late time in the day. Most people who have climbing and hiking experience would be coming down the mountain at that time of day instead of starting a climb. Hunters usually stay in the woods until shooting stops at sundown, but that's because the game starts moving at dusk.