I spent a cold and very thirsty night under a tree in Northern California 50 miles from the nearest town. A front came in and covered the stars and moon. I literally could not see my hand in front of my face. After 10 miles on the trail back to camp my flashlight died. Woke up the next day to find myself 50 yards from my tent. Now I carry at least 3 flashlights, one of them is a windup.
every camper including Boy Scouts shouldn't leave home without an air horn, and a $25 radio shack walkie talkie(the scout leader should then delegate a channel for emergency only) in their back packs(mine goes at least 2 miles, I use it for communicating with hunting buddies) that kid would have been found in 15 minutes by the scouts
and they ought to have a merit badge for using hand held GPS units and everyone locks in base camp coordinates as soon as they arrive
the rules are if you step foot out of base camp you have your walkie talkie (on your belt or in your back pack) and or the hand held GPS(both are the size of a cell phone)
no sense in any camper or hiker getting lost in the woods in this day in age