Sheriff deputies rescue missing teen with autism after he went missing near lake

By Tiarra Braddock

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    COMMERCE TOWNSHIP, Michigan (WXYZ) — A 14-year-old boy who has autism is now reunited with his family after being rescued near Proud Lake in Commerce Township.

The 14-year-old boy is from Farmington Hills. He was a part of a church group that was camping at the Proud Lake Recreation Area. The group went hiking and that’s when the boy ran off and was missing for hours.

“We activated a lot of resources, our search and rescue, our marine division, aviation,” said Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard.

Sheriff Bouchard says at around 4 pm on Tuesday, his team started getting calls that a 14-year-old boy with autism was missing. They were also told he was attracted to water.

“We’ve had a lot of drownings this year, we’ve already had 11, we were very fearful that this was going to be number 12,” said Bouchard.

Sheriff Bouchard says at around 7 pm, the search and rescue team found the boy.

“Thank heavens our aviation unit got there quickly, they got there within 6 minutes and began a pattern search, they actually found him about a mile, 1.3 miles away from where he had left the group,” Bouchard added.

The boy was found in an area that was completely inaccessible to cars.

“He had become stuck in waste-deep mud, in a very wet, swampy area right by the lake,” said Bouchard.

“How is the boy and his family doing right now?” 7 News Detroit reporter Tiarra Braddock asked.

“He’s in good shape… we took him to the hospital, just minor kind of thing. Just checking him out medically. Obviously, everyone is very relieved, most obviously the family,” said Bouchard.

While this situation had a good outcome, Sheriff Bouchard says we’ve all seen that’s not always the case.

He shared these safety tips to keep in mind as you got out on the water.

“Have safety equipment with you, if you’re going out alone like the one individual we recovered, make sure someone knows where you’re going… what your plan is so if you turn up not responsive or missing, we know a starting point,” said Bouchard.

Sheriff Bouchard also encouraged people to wear life jackets in the water.

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