Anyone in Search and Rescue in the Austin/Red Rock Area?

Oh my god, Monkey. I wish I could help. Beyond prayers, I'm not much good. I'm sure they got carried away on some little boy adventure, and you'll find them soon. I'm hoping and praying they're fine. Please keep us updated.

Oh my god, that's terrifying. Hoping and praying the boys are safe, and found soon.

I'm so sorry, Monkey - I hope they find him soon.

I'm so sorry, Monkey. I do hope the boys are found safe and soon.

Very worrisome indeed, but three kids together with dogs in a relatively small area?

The odds for a safe return are very much on their side.

Monkey, I'm so sorry. I hope they find him and his friends ASAP, and that they're safe and sound.

Monkey said:

The weather is cold and the boys weren't dressed for it. The woods in question are about 3 square miles big, so more people on the ground would seem like a good thing, but the police say no one who is not trained in search and rescue can go in.

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My guess is that they don't want to risk inexperienced searchers trampling tracks/destroying signs of passage, or have so many people out there that all the right hands can't effectively coordinate with what the left hands are doing. In that case, keeping foot traffic to a handful of trained searchers would increase the odds of an effective search, I'd think.

Best wishes and crossed fingers, and keep the porch light burning for them... (If the dogs are still with them, that's always good. Dogs make good body-warmers.)

I'm so sorry y'all are going through this!

If it's any help at all, I had a search team look for me all night in the woods and they didn't find me at all (in my 20's). I even had a big fire going. And there were bloodhounds and a helicopter. I walked out the next morning without them ever finding me (well us - with my boyfriend).

We were only still in the woods because it was too dark to see to walk. Maybe that's all it is! The woods we were in were much smaller than 3 square miles, too. Us yelling (after the helicopter) didn't travel and everyone yelling for us the whole time didn't either. It was just the terrain. Good luck! I'm so sorry.

It's so scary. But that is when the sun starts going down. We had too far to walk back before it set, so we just got stuck by the dark. I could easily see kids making that mistake.

I'm sure the cops will be investigating everything at the same time, too.

Monkey said:

My brother says, "So far we have about 4 dog teams, a big Swat van, a bigger mobile command post and a helicopter. Along with 50 or more people. But no boys yet."

My god why haven't they found them? I posted here hoping for help because it seemed like the search crew was small, but that's not the case anymore. But where could they be?

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I kept thinking this was in Research when I saw the thread pop up. Geez.

They probably haven't found them because woods are big (even three sq. miles), smallish kids are small, and there are lots of places they'd be under cover and not easily seen from a helicopter.

There's a lot of very hopeful stuff - they're not in a frigid area (even if it's cold overnight, it's not likely immediate life-threatening cold), there's a bunch of them, they've got dogs with them. All that makes it much more likely they'll be ok. Dogs are warm and can find water. A bunch of mammals together are a good source of heat for each other, and together they may have decided to seek shelter in a cave or under some trees or something when it got dark.

It's incredibly, incredibly unlikely someone would attempt to abduct four kids at once, especially four kids accompanied by dogs. I mean anything is possible, but that's beyond unlikely into I've never heard of it territory.

I'm sure you all must be completely freaked out. Hopefully when the sun comes up they'll either come out into an open area or searchers will be able to see them.

They may be asking the residences if they saw or heard the kids or anything, or just to be on the safe side, but it's just monumentally unlikely.

I've heard of pairs of kids being abducted, but even that is rare, because two people are much harder to control than one. Four? It's just ridiculous.

It's not like this was a routine thing, so it'd have to be a spontaneous abduction, which are nearly always designed to be trouble-free. It's why self-defense experts will say to walk confidently, because that alone makes it less likely someone will mess with you because spontaneous actors don't want to deal with people who will cause trouble, fight back, or attract attention. Four kids and two dogs is nearly guaranteed to do that, and be impossible to control.

As you said, at least one dog gets free.

The guy who kept those women in his dungeon took them one at a time, abusing and psychologically controlling each before adding another, who'd then see how hopeless the others' situation was.

Occam's Razor says they just got caught out in the dark and are ok. Nothing is guaranteed, but it is the most likely scenario.

It's not about how far, it's just about how small and insignificant people are when placed in nature, really.

Remember Steve Fossett, the billionaire who crashed his plane in Nevada or Utah or some such place? All the resources unlimited funds, and government, could bring to bear, and it still took over a year, I think it was, to find a wrecked plane in a desert, when it wasn't moving and they knew what they were looking for and the general area.

Which is NOT the situation with your nephew - he's not in a desert that spans hundreds of miles, he's not a single, non-moving entity. He's one of six mammals who want to be found, in a relatively very small area.

I'm just saying, also see above backslash's story, and the classic, helpfully videotaped dramatic time Bobby and Cindy got lost in the Grand Canyon and, well, people are hard to spot against the backdrop of nature. They'll find them soon - hopefully the sun will come up and they'll get a lot more resources on the ground and the kids will come out of wherever they took shelter. Someone around there probably has heat-detecting stuff too.

Yay! Now go to bed, heh.

They'll have a very exciting tale for all the kids at school Monday.

ETA - Yah, sorry, we cross-posted and I didn't see yours at first.

Yay!!! I checked back here so late just to see. I'm so glad they were found and taken care of and warm now, too