--- title: North Carolina Boy, 3, Says He "Hung Out With a Bear" While Missing for 2 Days description: Casey Hathaway, 3, says he "hung out with a bear" for while he was missing in the North Carolina woods for two days. canonical: https://time.com/5514103/casey-hathaway-bear-missing/ author: Tara Law article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-01-27T17:46:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:57:07.112Z og:title: North Carolina Boy, 3, Found After Missing in the Woods for 2 Days. He Says He 'Hung Out With a Bear' og:description: The boy was reportedly unhurt despite heavy rain and freezing temperatures og:url: https://time.com/5514103/casey-hathaway-bear-missing/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltefa3fc757fe8ef88/6989440e09208fa62d413356/bear.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1953 og:image:height: 1099 og:image:alt: Black bear crossing og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: North Carolina Boy, 3, Found After Missing in the Woods for 2 Days. He Says He 'Hung Out With a Bear' twitter:description: The boy was reportedly unhurt despite heavy rain and freezing temperatures twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltefa3fc757fe8ef88/6989440e09208fa62d413356/bear.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # North Carolina Boy, 3, Found After Missing in the Woods for 2 Days. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Jan 27, 2019 5:46 PM UTC  An American Black bear is crossing a fallen tree over a river. He has a paw raised in his walking, and his coat is has a healthy sheen to it. An American Black bear is crossing a fallen tree over a river. He has a paw raised in his walking, and his coat is has a healthy sheen to it.Gail Shotlander—Getty Images  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Jan 27, 2019 5:46 PM UTC A 3-year-old boy who was found after missing for two days in the North Carolina woods, says he “hung out with a bear.” The child, Casey Hathaway, was playing outside his great-grandmother’s house with two other children on Tuesday, when he apparently wandered off into the woods, according to a report by local news channel [WITN](https://www.witn.com/content/news/911-call-made-by-grandmother-reporting-Casey-Hathaway-missing-504816232.html). Hundreds of people, drones, helicopters and search dogs searched more than 1,000 acres for the boy, but were unable to find him, [according to the channel](https://www.witn.com/content/news/Crews-in-Craven-County-searching-for-missing-three-year-old-504708321.html?fbclid=IwAR3amCHP430nWE7aa6djAUyKZfP-C7%5FQuSbaAi3nUWhSIYZTcBMHt55EZTE). Over the next few days, the area experienced freezing temperatures and heavy rain, and some began to fear the worst. Lisa Fraker, who had joined the search party, was back at home on Thursday evening when she decided to take her dogs out for a walk. She had just stepped outside when she heard what she thought might be crying. Fraker put her dogs back in her house and ran up to another street, asking a emergency responder to come and listen to the sound. “Next thing I know, \[the emergency responder\] was coming back and telling me that yes, he heard something too. And the next thing I know, everybody was running up there and I heard he was found,” Fraker [told WITN](https://www.witn.com/content/news/Woman-who-heard-Casey-crying-calls-it-a-miracle-that-he-was-found-alive-504891631.html). EMS Captain Shane Grier found Hathaway tangled up in a thorn bush. Grier[ told WITN](https://www.witn.com/content/news/Captain-who-found-3-year-old-Casey-Hathaway-shares-emotional-experience-504895631.html) that Hathaway seemed to be alright. “You could tell he was very cold so we immediately started warming him up once we got him to the vehicle,” Grier said. “The more we warmed him up, it seemed the better he got.” EMS transported Hathaway to a local hospital. Hathaway was cut up and bruised, but seemed otherwise to be unharmed, according to WITN. Hathaway’s aunt, Breanna Hathaway, wrote on Facebook that her nephew seems to be fine. “Casey is healthy, smiling and talking. He said he hung out with a bear for two days. God sent him a friend to keep him safe,” Breanna Hathaway wrote. Hathaway also wrote on Facebook that one of her nephew’s favorite things is the Russian cartoon _Masha and the Bear_. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5514103/casey-hathaway-bear-missing/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5514103/casey-hathaway-bear-missing/"},"headline":"North Carolina Boy, 3, Found After Missing in the Woods for 2 Days. 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