Caleb Linn

By: KOLR10 Newsroom
Updated: March 25, 2012

Deputies say crews are continuing their search for 4-year-old Caleb.

Volunteers are gathering at Kia Kima park near Cherokee Village, Arkansas. The sheriff is asking for anyone who wants to help in the search for the child to report there.

(Hardy, AR) -- A child is missing in the woods near a Boy Scout Camp site in Fulton County, Arkansas.  We've learned that at least six different agencies are searching for him, some of them on horseback.

The four year old boy's name is Caleb.

They are also using helicopters and ifrared FLIR thermal detecting technology to try to locate the boy through his body heat. He went missing around 11:30 Saturday morning at the Kia Kima Boy Scout Reservation near Hardy, Arkansas.

The boy's family was picking up trash in a park when a few of the young boy's cousins headed back to a cabin. A short time later the boy decided to go with them, but couldn't catch up with them. The aunt and uncle did not know the boy was missing until they returned to the cabin and learned the boy never caught up with the cousin. Searcher have been in the area on foot all day.  

A team of about sixty emergency responders and volunteers are searching the camp site -- including sheriff's in both Fulton and Baxter counties and the Arkansas state police.

Fulton County Sheriff Kenneth Foley says ""Well at first I didn't, I didn't expect, the boy might be, maybe he was just lost and the longer this has been going on, the less I think about it. It's tragic, I was hoping we could find him. I hope we can find him tonight with this FLIR team. And I hope we don't find him...Hope we find him all well that's what I'm hoping for"

The Fulton County Sheriff's Department is the lead agency being assisted by the Baxter County Sheriff's Office who is lending manpower and a helicopter to the search. The Arkansas State Police are also lending assistance. Teams of volunteer fire fighters from various agencies, a team of emergency responders and volunteers are searching the woods are camp site. We have a crew on the scene and they have learned from a volunteer they are doing both land and water searches for the child.
   
A group of boy scouts also spent today searching the area.

Those on foot have stopped searching for the evening but the helicopter and infrared FLIR search continues. They are searching about nine hundred acres looking for the boy.

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Volunteers needed in the search for missing 4-year-old Caleb Linn
Last seen 11:30 Saturday morning

1:35 p.m. CDT, March 25, 2012

FULTON COUNTY, Ark. -- Roughly 65-volunteers have converged on the Spring River in Fulton County, Arkansas, searching for missing four-year old Caleb Linn.

The search is centered just northeast of Cherokee Village, and more volunteers are needed today.

The Fulton County Sheriff's office says they are asking for help, those interested should report to Kia Kima park, near Cherokee Village.

The Baxter County Sheriff, who's assisting Fulton County in the search, told KY3 News the boy disappeared from his family around 11:30 Saturday morning as they were visiting the Spring River.

Authorities are concerned thanks to the Spring River being up and the flooding in the area after the recent rains.

The boy was last seen wearing blue jeans and a bright orange shirt. No foul play is suspected at this time.

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Search Underway for Missing Child at Arkansas Camp
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By: KARK 4 News
Updated: March 25, 2012

State troopers and other resources have joined the search for a missing 3-year-old who vanished while on a camping trip in the northern part of the state.

Caleb Linn, of Springdale, went missing Saturday afternoon at the 900 acre Kia Kima Boy Scout Camp. The search, involving almost 80 law enforcement personnel and volunteers, is centered in the extreme northeast section of Fulton County near the Sharp County line north of Hardy, according to a news release.

Caleb is about three feet, six inches tall, weighing 41 pounds. He has short brown hair on the sides and longer toward the middle. His clothing is described as an orange baseball jersey type shirt with green long-sleeves, a short-sleeve orange t-shirt, blue jeans and black tennis shoes.

Anyone who may have seen a child matching this description in the area of the camp is asked to contact the Fulton County Sheriff's Department at (870) 895-2601.

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HARDY, Ark. -- Police and volunteers are searching in and along a northeastern Arkansas river for a 4-year-old boy who went missing from a Boy Scout camp over the weekend.

Fulton County Sheriff Buck Foley says more than 150 people are searching for Caleb Linn, who disappeared Saturday morning at the Kia Kima Boy Scout Camp near Hardy.

Authorities say Caleb was last seen leaving the cleanup site to try catching up to several boys who had left for the campsite about half a mile away.

Police initially said Caleb is 3 years old but the sheriff's office says he is 4. Authorities say the group was not affiliated with the Boy Scouts.

Caleb is from Springdale, which is 150 miles west of Hardy.

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CHEROKEE VILLAGE — More than 100 volunteers, rescue workers and law enforcement officials from across the state continued the search Sunday for a four-year-old boy who went missing Saturday at the Kia Kima Boy Scout Camp in northeast Fulton County.

Fulton County Sheriff Buck Foley said 3-year-old Caleb Linn of Springdale was with his aunt and several other children Saturday as his aunt was clearing debris from a bridge over the Spring River at the scout camp.

He was still missing as of 8:20 p.m., according to Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery.

Several kids asked for permission to return to the cabin they were staying in and walked up the hill. A short time later, Caleb asked permission to join them, Foley said.

Caleb’s aunt watched him head up the road to join them, and that’s the last anyone saw of Caleb, Foley said Sunday.

As word spread of the missing child Saturday, rescue workers and volunteers poured into the area to help search for the missing child. As no sign of him appeared overnight, the ranks of those involved in the search swelled, according to Foley.

“We had about 70 people here looking on Saturday,” said Foley. “We have about 100 or more here today. If we don’t find him today, we’ll have probably 30 more people looking tomorrow.”

The 900-acre scout camp’s terrain isn’t too bad for searchers, according to Foley.

“There are some hills and hollows,” Foley said, describing the terrain. “There aren’t too many steep cliffs or problems like that, and the vegetation isn’t really thick right now.”

The biggest concern Foley had Sunday, a concern shared by other rescue workers, was the river.

“The river was up pretty high yesterday,” Foley said. “It was moving fast then and it’s still moving fast now. We just hope he didn’t somehow end up in the river. We’re searching the woods, hoping to find him.”

Helicopoters from the Arkansas State Police and the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office began flying Saturday to aid in the search, with Baxter County’s helicopter starting, and the Arkansas State Police helicopter taking over late Saturday night and into Sunday morning.

Dive teams could be seen searching the river Sunday afternoon.

A press release from the Arkansas State Police describes Caleb as being three feet, six inches tall and weighing 41 pounds. He has brown hair, short on the sides and longer in the middle.

At the time he went missing, Caleb was wearing an orange baseball jersey with long green sleeves, a short-sleeve orange T-shirt, blue jeans, and black tennis shoes.

Anyone who has seen a child near the scout camp matching this description is asked to call the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office at (870) 895-2601.

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UPDATE: The search continues this morning for a missing Springdale boy who disappeared just days away from his fourth birthday.

He was helping his aunt clean up debris at Camp Kia Kima just north of Cherokee Village. During the cleanup he got separated from a group of people after he asked his aunt if he could catch up with them later.

Yesterday about 250 people helped search for Caleb covering about 400 acres of the camp. Volunteers gathered again this morning to continue the search for the missing boy.

We are following this story from Camp Kia Kima and will keep you updated. To see this morning's updates of the search then click the links to the left of the story.

Still no sign of a missing four-year-old who disappeared from a Boy Scout camp north of Cherokee Village in Fulton County.

The Fulton County Sheriff's Department says Caleb Linn of Springdale was last seen around 1pm Saturday at the bridge at Camp Kia Kima on the South Fork River.

State Police says Linn was among a group of eleven children who traveled this weekend to the 900 acre camp.

The group was working on a clean-up project at a bridge site about a half-mile from the main camp area. Five of the youths had left the bridge Saturday morning to return to the camp. About 11:30am State Police says Caleb asked permission to catch-up with the group.

The search, involving almost 80 law enforcement personnel and volunteers is centered in the extreme northeast section of Fulton County near the Sharp County line north of Hardy. A command center has been set up to help find Linn. Helicopters, officers on horseback and members of the Boy Scouts along with other volunteers are all helping with the search.

Caleb is about three feet, six inches tall, weighing 41 pounds. He has short brown hair on the sides and longer toward the middle. His clothing is described as an orange baseball jersey type shirt with green long-sleeves, a short-sleeve orange t-shirt, blue jeans and black tennis shoes.

If you have seen a child matching that description in the area of the camp call the Fulton County Sheriff's Department at (870) 895-2601.

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Tues., March 27, 2012
Update: 1:00 pm – 700 yards south of bridge where Caleb Linn went missing divers found clothing they believe belong to the child. Several search dogs also hit in that area.

Today local agencies and volunteers remain on location in Fulton County in the search for missing Caleb Linn.

Divers and boaters are still searching areas of the South Fork, Spring River for any signs of the missing child. The large wooded area around the Kia Kima Boy Scout camp are being covered by helicopter, search dogs ,four-wheelers, horseback, and on foot.

Investigators are questioning the Aunt of Caleb Linn again in an effort to narrow the timeline from when he was last seen. Caleb went missing around 11:30 am on Saturday, March 24th. A group was clearing debris from a low water bridge when Caleb was last seen . When a group of the boys decided to make their way back to camp Caleb asked to follow them.

Caleb has brown hair, weighs approx. 41 pounds and is 3’6 tall. He was wearing an orange shirt, blue jeans and black tennis shoes when he went missing .

While Police Investigators are also questioning sex offenders who live in the area this is not based on any new information but to cover all bases in the search for the child.

If you have any information about Caleb Linn or have seen the child please contact the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office at (870) 895-2601.

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Caleb Linn, 4-Year-Old, Missing From Arkansas Boy Scout Camp
By JEANNIE NUSS 03/27/12 12:02 PM ET

HARDY, Ark. -- Jason and Racheal Downs have a 4-year-old son Kaleb, so when they heard another Caleb, also 4, had gone missing at a nearby Boy Scout camp, they felt compelled to help look for him.

The Viola parents were among the hundreds of strangers and law enforcement officers who have been scouring the Kia Kima Scout Reservation since Caleb Linn went missing Saturday, searching the woods and fast-moving waterway that flows beneath the bridge where he was last seen.

"We'd want them coming for our kids," another searcher, Steve Williams, said.

While divers plunged into a tributary of the Spring River and a helicopter hovered overhead, volunteer searchers went out on horseback, foot and four-wheelers. But as the search resumed Tuesday, there were still no clues as to Caleb's whereabouts.

Authorities ruled out foul play, and said Caleb could have wandered off or fallen into the swollen tributary near the bridge, which he and several other children were helping his aunt clear of debris left by a recent storms.

The children weren't there as Scouts, but to get the camp ready for the Scouts who spend summers there.

Five of the children, who are related, headed up to the main campsite where they were staying as the aunt watched the grounds while a caretaker was away, Fulton County Sheriff Buck Foley said.

The children were about 300 yards away when Caleb decided he wanted to join them. His aunt, Rhonda Wright, told him to follow the dirt road and head back to the cabin, Foley said. Then, she went back to clearing debris.

Caleb could have fallen in the nearby Spring River tributary, which was saturated with rain from storms that swept the region.

"The way the water's running, you wouldn't hear a splash," Foley said.

Or he could have veered off into the woods or a nearby field on the 1/2-mile trek back to the cabin.

"I think he just wandered off," Foley said.

Authorities were still proceeding Tuesday under the assumption that Caleb is alive. But on Monday, they brought in cadaver dogs and set a net downstream that could catch a body. If he did fall in, there's no guarantee the net would catch him because he could have passed that point before it was set up, said Major Todd Smith, the assistant chief of enforcement for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

"It's like looking for a needle in the haystack," Smith said. "There's no way to search the whole river."

The weather has been dry and moderate since Caleb's disappearance, increasing his chances of surviving in the wilderness. And by Monday, the waterway had receded enough to allow divers to clear debris from beneath the bridge and take underwater photographs.

Caleb's mother and stepfather, who live 150 miles west of Hardy in Springdale, were put up in a cabin at the camp, and when approached, said they didn't want to speak to the media.

As dusk fell Monday, searchers left cases of bottled water and bags of cookies behind for the boy. Sheriff's deputy Boyd Dailey said he was hoping Caleb might be heeding the advice parents give their children: Don't talk to strangers.

"If he's out there, he's scared, and if he's hiding, maybe he'll pop up and somebody will see him," he said.

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700 yards south of bridge where Caleb Linn went missing divers found clothing they believe belong to the child. Several search dogs also hit in that area.

Why would he have taken off clothing? Was it all or just some of what he was wearing? Could he have been "going swimming"? Doesn't sound good...

This is such a sad and preventable story. I feel for the Aunt who in my opinion made a huge mistake in letting a four year old go alone to join the other kids but she never should have let him be alone! I hope somehow that child is still alive but it sure doesn't look like it.
Lisette, I'm confused by the clothing too. If he fell in would his clothing have come off and ended up somewhere where it found be found?

I can't believe the Aunt let a 4 year old wondering off on his own to catch up to the other kids! His cloths laying there is so weird. If a 4 yr old goes swimming on their own do they really know enough to take off their cloths?

CNN) -- The search for a 4-year-old Arkansas boy who went missing during an outing ended Wednesday morning with the discovery of his body, authorities said.
Caleb Linn's remains were found in the South Fork River in northern Arkansas, according to Fulton County Sheriff's dispatcher Arles Lenderman.
No foul play was suspected in his disappearance.
Two T-shirts worn by Caleb were found Tuesday afternoon along the river at the Boy Scout camp where he was last seen, officials said.
"We had pictures of the boy when we he went missing. They were the same clothes he was wearing that day," Sheriff Buck Foley said.

Caleb Linn "was full of life," stepfather Randy Muir told CNN affiliate KARK. "He was an amazing young kid."
Caleb's family was devastated by the loss of a boy they described as having a genial disposition.
"He was full of life," stepfather Randy Muir told CNN affiliate KARK. "He was an amazing young kid."
CNN affiliate KATV reported that the boy was last seen by his aunt on Saturday at Kia Kima Scout Reservation. Caleb had asked whether he could catch up with some other children who had gone back to a cabin area about 300 yards away, according to the station.
The search covered about 1,000 acres, Foley said.
The camp is near the Arkansas-Missouri border, about 160 miles north of Little Rock.
Caleb's aunt and mother identified the clothes as the little boy's, Foley said.
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Damn it! I'm so tired of adults not keeping a good eye out on these little children!

Just now reading this! What the Hell????? This was a completely preventable death!!!!! They should arrest the aunt for negligence! I cannot imagine allowing a child go it alone in the wilderness!!

Oh, dear me...I was so afraid that is what had happened to him... Why would you EVER allow a 4-year-old to go ANYWHERE by himself?? I know that if the aunt could go back.... But we can't go back, so we have to be extra diligent with these little ones!!

Fulton Co. Sheriff Believes Lesson Can Be Learned from Caleb Linn's Death

By: Josh Teddleton
Updated: March 28, 2012

The Fulton County Sheriff says he believes Caleb Linn might have either tripped into the water while heading down the riverbanks or wandered too close and fell in.

The current, which has risen due to large amounts of rain, has been powerful for the past few days.

"Teach them water safety at an early age," says Sheriff Buck Foley, "That's what I do with mine, my two kids, teach them how to swim and have respect for the water"

Foley also recommends parents teach kids what to do if they get lost in a rural or wooded area like those surrounding Spring Creek and that's to stay put in a place rescuers can easily find them until help arrives.

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The aunt that let him go has to carry around the heavy burden of her negligence now.

I dont see him taking off his clothes as a strange thing, he was going in the water. Waht do we teach them ...before you get in the bath you take your clothes off. Tragic Story RIP CALEB

I think they are saying to teach your kids how to swim at a very early age. They even teach babies how to swim.

If I were the mother of Caleb, I would dis-own the Aunt. Or kill her. Seriously, she was completely negligent!