Jun 18, 2008 11:28 pm US/Central
Missing Autistic Man Search Continues Thursday
GRANTSBURG, Wis. (WCCO) ―
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Kennedy was staying at Trade Lake Camp, a camp for developmentally disabled adults, when he disappeared on his way back to the bunk house for bed.
CBS
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There is a sense of urgency to find Keith Kennedy because he's in need of medication for a kidney transplant he had more than 10 years ago.
CBS
Nearly 300 volunteers searched until dark on Wednesday for Keith Kennedy, an autistic man from Minnesota who walked away from Trade Lake Camp in Grantsburg, Wis. on Sunday.
But they weren't able to find him. The search resumed at 7 a.m. on Thursday.
"I do break down but then people boost me up again. I just haven't
given up hope," said Keith's mother Linda Kennedy. "He's just given so
much is so many ways. We miss him so much, we love him so much and we
really, really want him found."
There is a sense of urgency to find Kennedy because he is in need of medication for a kidney transplant he had more than 10 years ago. Medical experts say without the medication his kidneys may stop working.
Kennedy was staying at Trade Lake Camp, a camp for developmentally disabled adults, when he disappeared on his way back to the bunk house.
"Just a matter of searching every nook and cranny," said volunteer Jean Blomquist, who doesn't know Kennedy or his family but wants to help in the search through thick woods.
Kennedy can only speak four words and won't respond to a call. That's why the search is a tough one.
"The young man has a tendency, it sounds like, to want to hide when things get stressful. So you can't call out for him and expect him to answer," said Blomquist.
Volunteer Ken Jones, of Superior, Wis., has an autistic son who has been lost and found again, so that's why he joined the search.
"Just because we know the feels that the parents are going through with an autistic child. Just the understanding of the disorder and broken-heartedness you get from having a child missing," said Jones.
Due to severe autism, Kennedy has the mentality of a 3-year-old at times, according to his mother. It's also possible he might not be able to walk anymore because of the kidney transplant.
"And now there's the whole factor that he has a kidney disease and hasn't been with his anti-rejection med for days now. He's missed about five doses now," said Linda Kennedy.
A search team on horseback, crews in boats on a nearby river and hundreds of volunteers know that time is critical. About eight square miles has been searched already but because Kennedy may retrace his steps, volunteers are searching the same ground again. Certain areas have been searched as many as six times.
"I can't even begin to say how much that lifts me. And the fact that the law enforcement here said they will not give up," said Linda Kennedy. "I really appreciate that."
School buses are being used to bring volunteers to remote areas. Every possible search method is being used from helicopters to dogs to ATVs to thermal imagining.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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