Search Intensifies for Oregon Boy

Helicopters skimmed the treetops and searchers fanned out on the ground Thursday in the biggest push yet to find an 8-year-old boy who vanished during a Christmas tree hunt last weekend near Rocky Point, Ore. Family members, including the boy’s father, Robert Engebretson, left, have launched a search of their own. They held onto dimming hopes that Derrick Engebretson would be found alive after five frigid nights in southern Oregon’s Winema National Forest. “I think he’s alive right now,” said Ben Davis, the boy’s grandfather. “But we’ve got to get him today.” The helicopters, equipped with heat-sensing gear, roared over the slopes while about 100 volunteers marched in grid lines through a six-mile-long crescent. Nicknamed “Bear Boy” by his family for his skill as a hunter and hiker, the third-grader was last seen carrying a small hatchet and was dressed warmly.