Aug 10

Missing Boy Vanished From Arizona Camp Site

Jerold-Joseph-Williams-missing-boy-665x385

The search for Jerold Joseph Williams, a five-year-old boy who vanished seemingly right out from under his mother’s watchful gaze on Thursday, enters its fourth day on Sunday with no sign of the missing child despite a massive search effort through rugged terrain involving more than 300 personnel from numerous agencies — even the United States Air Force.

The searchers have been forced to battle through severe weather conditions as they continue to hunt for the mysteriously disappeared little boy, who stands just three-and-a-half-feet tall. The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office is leading the multi-agency search which has faced heavy rains and 40 mile-per-hour winds, as Jerold’s mom continues to hope desperately that her young son will turn up somehow.

Joseph lives in Colorado City, Arizona. His mom and a large group of approximately 20individuals were camping outside of Jacobs Lake, Arizona, at a site about 70 miles from Colorado City on Thursday — a site on the northern edge of Kaibab National Forest and 44 miles north of Grand Canyon National Park.

But at about 1:30 that afternoon, their world turned upside down.

Jerold and his mom had strayed about 100 or 200 yards from the main camp site, according to sheriff’s deputies, and the five-year-old was happily chasing grasshoppers when, according to published accounts, his mom somehow “lost sight” of him.

No other details of how Jerold’s mother lost track of the boy were made public. But apparently, in the time that Jerold was out of his mother’s line of vision, he completely disappeared.

The camping group at first believed that Jerold would be easy to find and searched on their own. But after spending four hours combing the area and turning up nothing, they finally called in the authorities. But sheriff’s spokesperson Gerald Blair said such delays in situations like this one are not uncommon.

“We don’t get an immediate call because they think they can find him,” Blair said. “We didn’t get this thing until 5:30 p.m (Thursday). We did as much as we could with both operations on the ground and in the air, but we were short on daylight.”

Searchers from four neighboring counties have joined the search for Jerold Williams, as have members of the United States Forest Service and numerous other state and federal agencies — including two night-vision helicopters from Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. The National Guard has also provided personell and resources to the search for the missing little boy.

Just two weeks ago, a missing boy in Virgina, Joel Martinez Mercado, sadly, was found dead in a river. But the outlook for Jerold Williams remains uncertain.

Jerold Joseph Williams is described as weighing 35 pounds, with light brown hair, brown eyes, and a fair complexion. He also displays what police call “visible facial abrasions.” Searchers are asking anyone with information about where he might be, or how he suddenly disappeared, to come forward by calling the Coconino Sheriff at (928) 774-4523.

38 Responses to “Missing Boy Vanished From Arizona Camp Site”

  1. Steven B

    “…the multi-agency search which has faced heavy rains and 40 mile-per-hour winds…”

    Heartbreaking 🙁

    That sounds exactly like the many accounts that I read in Paulides’ “Missing 411” books.

    • Mitchell K

      Sounds to me like the child AND mother were 100-200 yards from the group and was fairly close to mom when he vanished. Don’t blame the mom. Things happen in the blink of an eye. Terrible situation for that family. Wish them the best

  2. Kent C

    One of the things that I find really disconcerting is how these cases tend to be “Local News Only”! ……As if there was no discernable case pattern here! …..You’ll notice that there was NO mention of the Deorr Kunz case from last month in the news report!!

    The reality is that there are FAR too many cases occurring every year that fit “The 411 Pattern” precisely! …..And it is time for NATIONAL attention and concern!

    I think Cristopher is right! ……Maybe when it comes out in movie form, America will take the time to watch and notice. (…….Because they obviously don’t read books anymore!!)

    • Gabriel H

      Isn’t that crazy. Here in Canada one of our biggest news casts is called THE NATIONAL

      and they should be allllllllll over this

      I can’t wait for some wide organization to take a bite of this regardless of the fear mongering, knowing it will shoot their ratings up so high Jack and his beanstalk will have to move over

  3. Pierre M

    Doesnt matter some people just think it will not happen to them. People are arrogant and just because theyve been going into the woods for a long period of time and nothings never happened to them they get relaxed. It only takes a you letting your child get out of eyesight and theyre gone vanished. How do you let your child get out of eyesight in the woods? I would be more scared in the woods than in a mall or public place. At least you have a 99% chance someone will find your child and return them. In the forest anything can happen. A wild animal get them or snake bite them or drowned fall off a cliff. Makes no sense to let your child get out of eyesight. Its just irresponsable!

  4. Scott

    Although I certainly don’t know what this poor family is going thru, I do know the horror of thinking your child has diapered, even if it was just for a short time. My ex wife and I, when we were still married, were at a county fair when my oldest daughter was about the age of this boy. I had just bought my little girl an ice cream cone and we proceeded to walk down the mid-way. I thought my wife had my little girls hand, and she thought I had it…long story short, my daughter came up missing in the time it took me to hand her the ice cream cone and put my wallet back in my pocket. We freaked!!!! I am a pretty big and scrappy dude, but I will tell you that for about 60 seconds I felt like laying down and dying. I felt like I was outside of my body looking down at myself. Thank what ever higher power is out there but about 90 seconds later I happen to see a fair worker on a golf cart with my daughter in the passenger seat. If I live to be 110 years old, I will never forget the look on my daughters face before she seen me. It still breaks my heart. Because I can tell you all that in that moment I wouldn’t have taken winning 80 million dollars, over the feeling I got when I seen my baby again. My thoughts will be with this young boy and his family, I hope they find him.

  5. Pat T

    Time to pray for this little boy’s return. It just breaks your heart as a parent. Scott, you couldn’t be more correct in the description of fear that you had during that time your daughter was missing. May the good Lord bring this little boy home to the arms of his mother and father

  6. Darrell O

    #‎Missing‬ – Deorr Kunz Jr., age 2, was last seen in ‪#‎LEADORE‬, ‪#‎IDAHO‬ while camping with his family at the Timber Creek Campground at Stone Reservoir on July 10th, 2015. Kunz has blonde bushy hair and was wearing a camouflage jacket, blue pajama pants and camouflage cowboy boots. If anybody spots the boy or something unusual in the area, they are encouraged to contact the Lemhi County Sheriff’s Office at (208) 756-8980 or 911.

    • Steven B

      I’ve looked thorough these posts and I don’t see anybody blaming “Hungry, Hungry Harry” – neither does Paulides in his “Missing 411” books – he just points out that these case all exhibit the same traits: person seemingly disappears close to others, bad weather hampers searches, person is wearing bright colored clothing, children are found in places that they logically could not get to on their own, are 4 examples. I can’t recall all the criteria but he did find a pattern and so found that there are “clusters” of disappearances under remarkably similar circumstances.

      Cheers
      Steve

  7. James B

    This is so, so sad, it makes me sick. I wish I could read those books, I’ve watched all I can find about David and Missing 411. and from all his interviews it hits it right square on the head. except I cannot find if that is state orUS camp grounds, anyone found that out yet? I;ll say prayers for Jacob and his family.

  8. Dave T

    It’s so sad to loose a child no matter how it happens. I have a daughter the age of this little guy. If I lost her it would destroy me, can’t imagine. How do you recover or move on from this? I can’t imagine the guilt and the blame that mother feels. I don’t ever want to feel that way. I guess that’s why I’d be considered an overly protective parent. I’m always on full alert and watch my daughter like a hawk even if we are in the backyard, (it’s a pretty big backyard.) I’m glad this family can have some closure to this tragedy but I d rather be dead than have to live without my little girl. I hate these stories.

  9. Robert P

    There are sinister actions on more than one level here. The authorities keep it hush hush for their reasons and the media for their own. And don’t think people at highest levels of the government are unaware of this

  10. Mark H

    Bad weather almost always follows these disappearances, that alone says to me, there is more to this than meets the eye. It may be beyond our scope of reasoning. As citizens of this country we should come together on this subject and demand that all National Parks release ALL the records they have on missing persons within their parks. We can not allow ourselves to use the “as long as it doesn’t affect me” excuse. Personally, I think all they will understand is a type of protest that affects their money, it will not save Jerold….it may save someone you love though………….

  11. Kent C

    The grim fact that authorities must refer to dental records for identification after only five days would seem to indicate some sort of predation. (…. either pre or post mortem.)

  12. Dutch W

    I wonder if shoes were found and condition of bottom of the feet, those are key indicators of being carried or dragged, sad to even consider those questions but it would tell a lot as far as type of predator. Continue with prayers for mother and family….

  13. Steven L

    I live here in AZ and have been following this sad story. It was said that the boy was 100 yards or so from everyone chasing grasshoppers and he was gone all of a sudden. His body was found close by which is crazy because hundreds of people were looking. I have a 3 year old daughter and I couldn’t go on in my life if this happened to my wife and I. Things like this happen and most of the time it is avoidable but here in az, there aren’t many things such as predators to worry about in the forests. The deserts are a whole different story. Our forests very rarely have black bears. We see some coyotes which we actually see in the city areas more often because they are more of a deset animal here. When we camp here the only real danger is a child getting lost or maybe a nearby camper taking someone. This is just very sad and without full details we will never know exactly what caused his dissappearance and his cause of death will be known but might not make sense, as in the 411 stories.

  14. Ryan o

    My heart goes out to the family for their loss. I have kids too and, well… This is hard to think about.
    This is exactly the stuff that Dave writes about.

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