AUSTIN, Ind. (WDRB) -- A young Indiana boy is back with his family after disappearing in the woods near his home Tuesday afternoon.
Carter, a 10-year-old, wandered off his family’s property with his dog, Chip, and into the woods. Claire Mitchell, an Indiana conservation officer, said he was out there on a nature walk.
As one of Indiana's newest conservation officers, her days are spent patrolling lakes and finding lost hunters. But this Tuesday wasn't the average shift.
"As soon as I clocked in, I heard the dispatch," Mitchell said.
The call was to locate Carter. His family says he has Down Syndrome. He disappeared into the woods with his dog, Chip, while under the care of his full-time nurse.
"It's pretty marshy out there, and it was going to get cold that night," Mitchell said.
Several agencies fought the clock to reunite Carter with his family before the sun set. Mitchell saw the dog's footprints while looking near a creek. She then spotted Carter's and followed the trail.
"Eventually I heard some rustling in the leaves," Mitchell said. "I saw the dog first."
A 10-year-old boy with Down syndrome in Austin, Indiana, about 36 miles north of Louisville, wandered off in the woods in Scott County and was found by an Indiana Department of Natural Resources officer on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024. (Indiana DNR photo)
That's when she spotted Carter more than a tenth of a mile away from his home.
"He was just walking, hanging out in the woods," Mitchell said.
Mitchell took Carter and Chip home, but she humbly said it was a team effort.
"I was not the only one there," Mitchell said. "I was just lucky enough to find him."
Carter was unharmed and unaware that people were even searching for him.
"I asked him if he had fun, and he said that he did," Mitchell said.
Carter’s mom said he isn’t a runner and this isn’t like him at all, but he is doing well.
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