8-year-old spends night in woods lost and alone after leaving cave, Arizona cops say
An 8-year-old boy spent a night lost and alone in the woods after making a wrong turn out of a lava tube cave in Arizona, deputies said.
He was found 17 hours later.
Tzion Maron went missing at about 6:15 p.m. Aug. 21 from the Lava River Cave, McClatchy News previously reported from the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office.
He was in the cave with his family when he decided he didn’t want to hike any further, the sheriff’s office spokesperson Jon Paxton told McClatchy News by phone.
His family told him he could return to their car where his mother was waiting, Paxton said.
But as he made his way out of the cave, he got disoriented and took a wrong turn as it was raining heavily, he said.
Rescuers began searching for Tzion in the surrounding woods but couldn’t find him, deputies said.
He was found at 11 a.m. and over a half-mile from where he disappeared from, Paxton said.
Authorities were worried he was dehydrated or suffered from hypothermia, but he appeared to be in overall good health, Paxton said.
The child was still taken to a medical center to be checked out.
Lava River Cave is a mile-long lava tube cave that formed by molten rock “that erupted from a volcanic vent in nearby Hart Prairie,” according to the U.S. Forest Service.
The cave is about 42 degrees, even in the summer, officials said. It’s dark and cold, and the rocks can be slippery and sharp.
The cave is about 20 miles northwest from Flagstaff.
This story was originally published August 22, 2024 at 6:01 PM with the headline "8-year-old spends night in woods lost and alone after leaving cave, Arizona cops say."
