Free Republic

(CNN) -- We may never know what Casey Hathaway was doing during the three days he was missing. He was found on Thursday, cold but alive, in a mess of vines and thorns in Craven County, North Carolina. But the 3-year-old has volunteered one noteworthy detail about those days in the woods: a bear kept him company.

The three-year-old boy who was miraculously found safe and sound after he went missing for two days in North Carolina says he spent time with a bear while he was lost in the woods. Casey Lynn Hathaway was found healthy and in 'good spirits' on Thursday after he went missing from his great-grandmother's backyard on Tuesday, launching a massive search party in Craven County. The toddler, who is recuperating in hospital, told police and his parents he spent his two days in the woods hanging out with a bear. 'Casey is healthy, smiling, and talking. He said he hung out...

A 3-year-old North Carolina Boy who had been missing since Tuesday was found alive Thursday night, the Craven County sheriff said. Casey Hathaway was found in Craven County at around 9:30 p.m., NBC affiliate WITN of Washington, North Carolina, reported. The Craven County Sheriff's Office said on Facebook that Casey was found by professional search and rescue crews and he is in good health and is being evaluated at a hospital. "He is with his family. Thank you all for helping us #FindCasey," the sheriff's office wrote. Craven County Sheriff Chip Hughes told WITN that Casey was alert and able...

The North Carolina 3-year-old who vanished from his grandmother’s backyard earlier this week said he spent his two days in the woods with a friendly bear. Casey Lynn Hathaway was found alive just before 9:30 p.m. Thursday, bringing an emergency two-day search for the missing toddler to a close. Rescue workers were following up on a tip about a crying child when they discovered Casey about 40 or 50 yards into a wooded area, tangled up in some brush and calling out for his mother. The boy had been missing since Tuesday, when he didn’t come inside with the other...

Ernul, N.C. — Julie Toler calls the outcome of the two-day search to find her great-great grandson ,"a miracle from God." Toler says she lost sight of Casey Hathaway, 3, on Tuesday while he played outside her home in Craven County. “They play out there all the time. They go back and fourth from my house to my daughter’s house," Toler said. "I’m glad he’s fine because it would have been terrible for everybody if something happened to him." Authorities from the FBI, U.S. Marines, professional search teams and volunteers joined the search for the young boy over a two-day...