Missing boy with autism, 14, found in Proud Lake swamp after search and rescue mission

On Tuesday, a 14-year-old boy with autism was rescued from a swamp in Commerce Township by Oakland County Sheriff’s Office deputies after disappearing on a church group trip.

Sheriff Michael Bouchard said the boy was on a hiking trail in Proud Lake State Recreation Area with members of his church and a chaperone when he took off running around 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

After a 911 call shortly after his disappearance, the boy, at 5-foot-7 and approximately 100 pounds, was searched for by Oakland County Sherrif's Search and Rescue Team, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority Police Department, with aviation teams patrolling from above.

It was that aviation team, the sheriff's office said, that spotted the boy in an unimproved, remote area of the park. He was found waist-deep in thick mud, water and vegetation more than a mile off-trail, officials said.

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“Thanks to the amazing work of the search and rescue team ... we were able to save this young man from a dangerous situation that very well may have been our 12th drowning of the year,” Bouchard said.

The 14-year-old is okay, authorities said, noting that he was taken to a hospital by paramedics and treated for minor scrapes and bruises. He has since been released.

Breaking news reporter Liam Rappleye can be reached at LRappleye@freepress.com

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Missing boy with autism, 14, found in Proud Lake swamp after search and rescue mission