Stories can sometimes be too remarkable to be true.
A three-year-old boy was found crying and tangled up in thorny bushes in the wilderness of North Carolina.
The boy survived what was deemed impossible for his age – surviving frigid weather for two days. But this story, as miraculous and amazing as it is, maybe a little bit “too good to be true” because of one extraordinary detail.
Casey Hathaway was playing with other relatives when the nightmare for his parents started.
They were staying in his great-grandmother’s backyard where he didn’t come back inside the house when they stopped playing.
The family immediately started a search and combed the areas surrounding the property. After 45 minutes of fruitless search, they called 911. His great-grandmother believed that Casey walked off alone after being left all by himself.
The local community quickly banded together to begin a larger search.
According to CNN, search and rescue teams from across the state were involved. They had to act fast because the temperatures in the area were plummeting fast.
In search of Casey, the sky was patrolled by choppers and drones. On the ground, volunteers, military personnel, and law-enforcement officials were joined by K-9 units.
The situation got progressively desperate.
Casey was stuck in such challenging conditions that at some point, they had to call off the search. Minutes turned to hours, and hours turned to a day – Casey was still missing.
That is until they got a lead about a voice calling out for their mother. The local police rushed to the spot where the voice was allegedly coming from. They found Casey cold and soaked, but otherwise unharmed.
And as the family thanked the people who joined the search, Casey thanked someone – or something else.
In a Facebook post, the family revealed that Casey was saved by a bear.
Casey told the police that a bear kept him company. It was also a story he shared with his aunt. People were quickly enamored with such a story that leaped straight out of a movie.
He said the bear stayed with him for the duration of the ordeal. The family considered it a miracle, but others were skeptical about what happened.
Experts warned about the integrity of the story.
“Bears don’t do that,” Chris Servheen, a bear researcher at the University of Montana said to The Guardian. “Wild bears aren’t friends with people.”
He reiterated that he didn’t want to say that the child was not telling the truth but he also explained that there was no evidence of such a relationship with humans.
The story can have dangerous implications as people may start looking for “friends” in the wilderness, especially in animals as dangerous as a bear.
It was not explained by news sources if there were evidence of the animal presence in the spot where they found the boy.
No matter what the truth is, we know the family is glad to have Casey back.
Experts still warn that people should be careful when dealing with bears. They should not be approached or get close to one in any way.
And as the debate continues as to whether he was saved by a bear or not, Casey’s survival in frigid temperatures for two days remains an amazing story of miracles and survival.
Watch how a bear allegedly saved a missing 3-year-old boy.
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