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Search Effort Finds Boy, 14, on Thanksgiving

One Forsyth family had a lot to be thankful for on Thanksgiving Day. Their 14-year-old son, Marcus Rothwell, was lost overnight during a hunting trip that brought them to the Timber Creek area, near Wyatt Coulee and Plum Creek.

Valley County Undershefiff Vern Buerkle said a large group effort in the county helped search for the boy. Search and rescue, the sheriff's office, hunters, community members, Fish, Wildlife and Parks, BLM, emergency medical services and a search dog all put efforts in to recover the boy.

Marcus was to meet up with his father, Micheal Rothwell, as they separated during a hunting trip. They were to meet up in an area that they agreed on, but when the boys didn't make contact with his father, he began searching. The call came into the county around 11 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 27, that he was missing.

Buerkle said that the boy had left his cell phone and GPS device at the camp site and after he wandered for several hours he stopped a lit a fire for a short time to warm up. Marcus was lucky as the temperatures hadn't dropped yet on early morning Thanksgiving day.

As daylight began to break local pilots and the Air Force out of Great Falls were about to take flight to search for the boy. The flights were called off just before they left the ground when hunters reported to Phillips County dispatch that the boy had been found around 8 a.m.

The undersheriff said that the hunters who spotted the boy saw he had hunter orange on, but he wasn't carrying a gun and something didn't quite look right. As Marcus neared them he started to wave and the hunters were able to recover him.

He was in good condition but was cold after the night. The boy was carrying minimal supplies, but he did have some food and water.

He was found eight miles from his four wheeler and approximately five miles from his camp site. He had just crossed over the county line.

The area that was searched was inaccessible without the use of ATVs and by foot. Buerkle said it was a huge group effort.

 

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