Samuel “Sammy” Boehlke was reported missing at/near Crater Lake National Park. At the time of the missing persons report, Sammy Boehlke was 8 years old, 4’08, weighing approximately 85 lbs and is reportedly from Portland, Oregon according to public reports.

The boy and his father had stopped to play tag (hide and seek) on a cinder slope where Sammy saw some yellow he hoped might be gold. As darkness approached and his dad walked a short distance to the car so the two could return to their rented cabin near Diamond Lake, Sammy stayed on the slope, refusing to come down.

Kenneth Boehlke chased up after him, he said, but Sammy, likely thinking it was a game, stayed 50 feet ahead. “I never caught up with him, and at that point he disappeared over the top somewhere and I lost him,” said Boehlke, 48.

The search force quickly increased to more than 200 people combing an area of about 6 square miles, or 4,000 acres. For a week, searchers scoured the area with dogs, helicopters and heat-sensing cameras, but no trace of the boy was ever found.