ROSS RIVER, Yukon - A two-year-old boy who wandered away from a campsite and spent a night alone in a remote, mountainous part of the Northern Yukon has been found alive and well.
The child, whose disappearance triggered a massive ground and air search, was located by Mounties Friday evening and police say it was the boy's love of animals that seems to have got him into trouble.
"He was with a dog and apparently this is what caused him to wander away in the first place," said RCMP Sgt. Don Rogers.
"The dog -- I'm not sure if it's a stray or what, but it wasn't his dog -- had gone through the campsite and he had apparently followed it off and the dog was still with him when he was found."
The boy was found about 1.5 kilometres from where the search originated.
His parents realized he was missing around 6 p.m. Thursday, and they and others looked for him until 10 p.m., when they contacted police.
About 20 Mounties and search-and-rescue personnel, along with a tracking dog and an infrared-equipped helicopter scoured the area, 50 kilometres north of Ross River. Ross River is about 400 kilometres north of Whitehorse.
The weather in the area had been cold and rainy.
"It's certainly been cool in the evenings and it's not something I would want to stay out at night myself, with just the clothes on my back," Rogers said.
He said the boy's parents, who live in Kamloops, B.C., were thrilled to have him back, knowing the outcome could have been very different.
"The Yukon's home to a great number of species and animals, including both grizzlies and black bears and certainly that area is rich in wildlife," Rogers said.
"It could have been a more tragic outcome but we're just really happy that it turned out the way that it did."
The boy was examined by medical staff but Rogers said he's in remarkably good condition.
