Medford Teen Safe, Sound After Two Days Lost

UPDATE, 2:45 p.m.: NECN reported that Nicholas Joy and his family are back home in Medford as of Wednesday afternoon. He did not appear to speak to reporters after arriving.

UPDATE, 10 a.m.: Portland, Maine NBC affiliate WCSH-6 tweeted that Joy and his family left a Maine hospital at about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.

According to WCSH-6, the family went out an exit that was hidden from the media.

ORIGINAL STORY: A Medford teenager is safe and sound after spending two days lost near Sugarloaf ski resort in western Maine.

Nicholas Joy, 17, emerged from the woods at about 9 a.m. Tuesday. He was located by Massachusetts snowmobiler Joel Paul, according to the Maine Warden Service.

The warden service said the Medford High School senior was found on Caribou Pond Road, a snowmobile trail on the mountain, and was later taken to a hospital for observation.

Joy was skiing with his father and had been last seen on the Timberline chairlift at the mountain at around 12:40 p.m. Sunday.

Dozens of ski patrol members and Maine warden officials were involved in the search in bad weather conditions and difficult mountain terrain.

After being found, Joy spoke to WHDH-TV Tuesday, saying he felt good and had simply gotten lost on Sunday.

WHDH reported that Joy survived by building a snow cave in the woods. In addition, Paul, a Massachusetts firefighter, told the news station Joy used skills he learned from "a survival show" to stay alive, including drinking water from a nearby stream.

Joy's aunt, Diane DiGirolamo, told the Boston Globe the family was "overjoyed" at the news and that Joy would be kept overnight at a hospital in Maine.

News of Joy's discovery spread quickly Tuesday, with readers taking to Medford Patch's Facebook page to express their excitement and relief.

"I'm so very happy that all is well. His parents must be so grateful," wrote one reader.

"So happy he is safe, thank god!" wrote another.