Boy Scout finds help at lodge

MEEKER I At approximately 1 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 6, two Boy Scout leaders came to the Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s Office to report a missing scout last seen mid-afternoon on Friday, Aug. 5, in the Bailey Lake area near South Fork off RBC Road 10, 21 miles east of Meeker. The missing juvenile was said to be a 16-year-old boy from Fruita, Colo.Rio Blanco Search and Rescue deployed teams of volunteers on horseback and 4-wheelers. One of the volunteers on horseback sustained an ankle injury around 3:40 p.m. when her horse tripped and fell on her. She was transported by ambulance to Pioneers Medical Center in Meeker.Assistance was also received from Westlands, a local ranch in the search vicinity,   with the donated use of a helicopter. Also, two volunteers with Search and Rescue Dogs of Colorado responded with their dogs, starting their search in the evening and continuing into the morning of Aug. 7.At 8:30 a.m. on Sunday morning, the Rio Blanco County Communications Center received a call from the boy’s mother stating he just called her from an unknown lodge in Meeker. The boy told his mother he got lost and found some people who helped him to the lodge, which was confirmed to be Trappers Lake Lodge. The boy’s father, who had been assisting with search efforts, was reunited with his son a short time later.The Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank all the volunteers who assisted with this search effort, as well as Henry Kravis and Westlands employees.