Montana 4-Year-Old Survives 2 Days Alone In Outdoors

TROY, MT — A 4-year-old is lucky to be alive after authorities in northwestern Montana said he survived being alone in the outdoors for two days.

Ryker Webb was reported missing around 5 p.m. Friday after he hadn't been seen for two hours, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said. A concerned neighbor reported the child missing near Bull Lake, south of Troy. Troy is about 85 miles northeast of Spokane, Washington.

Deputies and search teams were sent to the area, and were given an inaccurate description of the child's clothes.

He was last seen playing with the family dog in the yard outside the home near the 18 mile-marker of Highway 56 on the east side of the lake.

Search teams used ATVs, drones, dog teams, a boat and helicopters to search for the child, but poor weather conditions made the search challenging, authorities said. Two helicopters were forced to turn back due to poor weather.

On Saturday, two Montana Air National Guard helicopters and drones from Flathead County and Spokane Police assisted in the search. More dog teams and ATVs continued searching for Ryker on the ground.

"It was extremely difficult to get the additional air assets into the Bull Lake valley due to very poor weather conditions which consisted of rain, low visibility, and low ceiling," the sheriff's office said.

Dense vegetation also made the search "extremely difficult," the sheriff's office added. Authorities disseminated a missing person's report nationwide.

On Sunday, dozens of rescuers were searching the area when they learned the child was found.

Deputies raced to Pine Ridge Road off South Fork Bull River Road in Sanders County and determined that it was Ryker. He was in "good spirits and apparently healthy, although hungry, thirsty, and cold."

The boy was taken to Cabinet Peaks Medical Center for evaluation.