Bear 'protected' child for two days in freezing temperature

Rescuers found Casey Hathaway tangled up in thorny bushes close to the area where he had disappeared

Web Desk – A three-year-old child, after surviving two nights in freezing woodland alone, claimed that he was looked after by a bear for protection in Craven County, eastern North Carolina, in U.S. Later, rescuers found the child namely Casey Hathaway tangled up in thorny bushes close to the area where he had disappeared from his grandmother’s home on Tuesday.

Earlier, search was abandoned due to heavy rain and strong winds in sub-zero temperatures.

Police moved into the woods about 45 meters when the child was heard crying by a passerby.

Craven County officer Chip Hughes told a local television station “he didn’t really get into how the child was able to survive and all that. He did say he had a friend in the woods that was a bear that was with him.”

The claim was repeated by the boy’s aunt, Breanna Hathaway, who wrote on Facebook: “Casey is healthy, smiling and talking. He said he hung out with a bear for two days. God sent him a friend to keep him safe. God is a good God. Miracles do happen.”

Black bears are abundant in North Carolina and are not typically aggressive towards humans, although it is unclear whether the one which befriended Casey was real or imaginary.

Later, Casey was taken to hospital for evaluation after being found. Mr Hughes said he was “wet, cold and scratched up”, as well as dehydrated, but otherwise in good health.

Casey went missing while playing with two other children in his grandmother’s back garden in the village of Enrul. US Marines, the FBI and hundreds of volunteers assisted the search.