3 Brothers Missing Overnight in Storm Found Safe in Massachusetts

Three brothers who disappeared while playing in the snow were found safe Wednesday after hundreds of people spent hours searching through a swampy, wooded area in stormy weather.

The Eklund brothers, Brian, 13, Robert, 11, and Matthew, 9, were found after an overnight stay in the woods near an industrial park, New Bedford Police Officer Paul Chaves said.

“In my 10 years as chief of police, I’ve never been happier than I am at this point,” said Stephen Soares, police chief of neighboring Dartmouth.

Dr. Paul Bulat, chief of emergency services at St. Luke’s Hospital, said the boys were doing well after arriving exhausted, dehydrated and suffering mild hypothermia. He praised their survival skills, saying they huddled together for warmth and kept moving.

At one point, Brian gave his socks to his youngest brother, whose feet were wet, the doctor said. “There were heroics,” Bulat said.

Robert Eklund, the boys’ father, said his sons apparently got lost when it started to snow and they tried to take a shortcut home.

“They found a tree and hid underneath,” he said. “It was pretty miserable out there last night.” The boys had had training in survival skills, he said.

Volunteers, police and firefighters from Massachusetts and Rhode Island had begun searching for the boys Tuesday afternoon. State Police and Coast Guard helicopters aided the search.

Searchers had found the boys’ footprints in the snow, but the prints were washed away when snowfall from a major storm turned to rain, Dartmouth Police Communications Officer Michael McCarthy said. Winds of up to 30 m.p.h. also hampered the searchers.