3 year old boy missing for 3 days in outback found alive.
- Thread starter lionking
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Checkmite
Skepticifimisticalationist
As far as I know. Why do you ask?
So far as the case goes, we'll have to wait to see if the family's (or some of the family's?) "own investigation" bears anything. I have a feeling that this is yet another fairly straightforward case - the kid wandered off, luckily survived for three nights, and was found alive - that is going to be kept perpetually alive by certain individuals because of a handful of mildly curious tangential circumstances that they attach an inordinate amount of significance to.
smartcooky
Penultimate Amazing
Police don't see anything suspicious, and interestingly it seems that his autism may have been a factor in his survival.
https://www.news.com.au/national/ns...h/news-story/0bc409f6ee203f1be62a2a0c395c7813
Yeah, just as most of us were thinking, this is a case of Occam's Razor in action - boy goes missing, survives for three days and then is found alive. Nothing nefarious to see here folks.
https://www.news.com.au/national/ns...h/news-story/0bc409f6ee203f1be62a2a0c395c7813
"Conspiracy theories circulated on social media that his disappearance was staged, and that a young boy could not survive alone with food or water in such inhospitable terrain – where overnight temperatures were as low as 2C.
However, detectives investigating the circumstances of the toddler’s disappearance – said AJ’s injuries and condition when he was found were all consistent with him being in the bush the entire time.
However, detectives investigating the circumstances of the toddler’s disappearance – said AJ’s injuries and condition when he was found were all consistent with him being in the bush the entire time.
"And, bush survival experts aiding the investigation say his autism may have actually helped him maintain a calm state of mind. “The reality is he didn’t know he was lost, so he wasn’t scared, he didn’t panic,” an investigator told the Daily Mail Australia. “If he was tired, he slept … he had access to water, which is a big thing for survival in the bush.”
When AJ was rescued, paramedics said he ravenously ate an entire pizza and guzzled water – which is indicative of someone who hadn’t eaten for days. “He was starving … it’s all consistent with him being in the bush the entire time,” a paramedic said.
The Child Mind Institute (CMI) says children with autism often have “a weaker sense of danger” than others and enjoy exploration."
When AJ was rescued, paramedics said he ravenously ate an entire pizza and guzzled water – which is indicative of someone who hadn’t eaten for days. “He was starving … it’s all consistent with him being in the bush the entire time,” a paramedic said.
The Child Mind Institute (CMI) says children with autism often have “a weaker sense of danger” than others and enjoy exploration."
Yeah, just as most of us were thinking, this is a case of Occam's Razor in action - boy goes missing, survives for three days and then is found alive. Nothing nefarious to see here folks.
arthwollipot
Observer of Phenomena, Pronouns: he/him
Not in Australia, no. We measure the seasons by the beginning of the calendar month. Spring started on the 1st of September.
Because of this
Ahh. ok
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Checkmite
Skepticifimisticalationist
How odd
angrysoba
Philosophile
Very odd. You mean this goes deeper? Who are the police protecting, and why?
And yet some police had other views:
“
I mean, obviously you will quote only those who echo your thoughts, but don’t pretend there is absolute agreement about this case.
novaphile
Quester of Doglets
Apologies for posting this again, but some friends of mine do search and rescue stuff as part of their regular volunteering efforts.
They've mentioned, on multiple occasions, that searching for small children is particularly difficult, because children may actively hide from the searchers.
One example they gave, was a child that was found, near Gawler, because one of the searchers had sat down to take a break near a tree.
The tree was hollow, and the child's shoelaces were just visible inside the hollow.
The child had climbed up inside the tree to hide, when he heard people shouting his name.
(The child was fine, he'd only been missing for about half a day.)
They've mentioned, on multiple occasions, that searching for small children is particularly difficult, because children may actively hide from the searchers.
One example they gave, was a child that was found, near Gawler, because one of the searchers had sat down to take a break near a tree.
The tree was hollow, and the child's shoelaces were just visible inside the hollow.
The child had climbed up inside the tree to hide, when he heard people shouting his name.
(The child was fine, he'd only been missing for about half a day.)
Checkmite
Skepticifimisticalationist
Welllll.....that's an older quote from a few days ago, though. The new one is a more recent opinion, from just yesterday. Perhaps the change indicates that police are actually coming to believe there's nothing really "there". It contains several supporting statements from not only police, but a survival expert and a child psychology organization.
So far the only thing that seems to be left in the "staged" camp is "well but why didn't the camera work".
arthwollipot
Observer of Phenomena, Pronouns: he/him
And if the child is autistic, as he is, it can be even more difficult.
Checkmite
Skepticifimisticalationist
A cursory check online can find no new information about this incident in Australia. I take it from this that nothing ever came of the investigation into the supposedly "suspicious" circumstances, including the truck that the police found 80km away.
At any rate, here's a very similar case which concluded today in Texas. A three-year-old boy who wandered into the woods near his home on Wednesday was found today, four days later, and five miles from where he was last seen.
That article is slim on relevant detail, so here's one from yesterday (published while the boy was still missing) that gives more information.
Notice that again after a certain period of time of investigators not finding him, the missing child's family begins to suspect that he has been kidnapped - but, also once again, that turns out not to have been the case. The boy had just managed to walk farther afield than the search teams presumed.
I think cases like these really go to show that children even this young can be counterintuitively hardy in such situations. If we look at cases like this and the fact that the child survives seems "odd" or "suspicious" to us, maybe that's just our misconceptions being challenged.
At any rate, here's a very similar case which concluded today in Texas. A three-year-old boy who wandered into the woods near his home on Wednesday was found today, four days later, and five miles from where he was last seen.
That article is slim on relevant detail, so here's one from yesterday (published while the boy was still missing) that gives more information.
Notice that again after a certain period of time of investigators not finding him, the missing child's family begins to suspect that he has been kidnapped - but, also once again, that turns out not to have been the case. The boy had just managed to walk farther afield than the search teams presumed.
I think cases like these really go to show that children even this young can be counterintuitively hardy in such situations. If we look at cases like this and the fact that the child survives seems "odd" or "suspicious" to us, maybe that's just our misconceptions being challenged.
smartcooky
Penultimate Amazing
Cue the "OMG how could a child survive for X days in the wilderness" conspiracy crowd to start throwing suspicion on ____________ (insert family member here).