Hunt for Missing Boy Is Called Off

After sustaining a search in the snow-patched hills of Cleveland National Forest for nearly 30 hours, authorities Tuesday ended their efforts to find a missing 15-year-old boy when search dogs lost his trail at Buckman Springs Road.

Sheriff’s deputies began the search Saturday, when Andrew Irish Campbell of Guatay, a small community near Campo, was reported missing after a fishing expedition with friends, Deputy Al Bates said.

According to Bates, search dogs had picked up Campbell’s scent and tracked him from an area in the forest known as Four Corners to dirt paths near Morena Lake. But, as search teams reached Buckman Springs Road, Campbell’s trail ended abruptly.

Scent Ended at Road

“The dogs were following a strong scent, but, when they got to the road, the scent ended,” Bates said. “They searched around but they couldn’t pick up the trail again, which leaves us with several possible conclusions.”

The teen-ager was most likely picked up by a passing vehicle, authorities believe.

“Trails like that just don’t disappear,” Bates said. “There’s a good chance that he hitched a ride or was picked up by somebody.”

Authorities ended the search Tuesday afternoon, convinced that Campbell had left the wooded terrain. Missing persons cases, at this stage, are routinely transferred to homicide investigators, Bates said.

“At this point, there’s not a whole lot more that we can do,” Bates said.

After initial efforts to find Campbell failed over the Christmas weekend, a Sheriff’s Department search-and-rescue unit took over Monday morning. Ground crews with search dogs roamed snow-covered hills, where overnight temperatures dropped into the mid-20s, Bates said. When weather conditions allowed, helicopters were deployed.

Bates said a few deputies were dispatched to Morena Lake.

No Need for More People

“There was really no need to use more people,” Bates said. “We had a good scent to follow and felt that we were making progress. It wasn’t necessary to have 100 people running about out there in inclement weather and risking them to injuries.”

According to the sketchy account compiled by authorities, Campbell set out Friday with friends on an overnight fishing and camping trip. But apparently Campbell and his friend, Jimmy Henry, 15, left the group Friday evening to walk home.

The two boys lost their way during the night and, at midday Saturday, crossed paths with some bicyclists who gave them directions to their vehicles and offered to give the boys a ride to nearby Pine Valley, Bates said.

During the half-mile walk to the bicyclists’ cars, Campbell developed leg cramps and stopped, leaving Henry to proceed without him. Campbell requires daily medication for a potassium deficiency that causes such cramps, Bates said.

Henry made it home safely, but Campbell never returned.

Sheriff’s deputies were notified by Campbell’s parents Saturday, and authorities twice searched the area--once with Henry’s help--before the search-and-rescue crews joined the effort.

The missing teen-ager is described as 5-foot-8, 120 pounds, with blond hair and hazel eyes. When last seen, he was wearing a khaki Army jacket, black pants and black sneakers.