A DISCARDED wellington boot spotted by a garda led to 12 year old Gary Edward Murphy, the autistic boy missing from his Donegal home, being found yesterday morning.
Gary, who can hear but cannot speak, was missing overnight. He was found sheltering under bushes about one and a half miles from his home at Muintereneese, near Mountcharles, Co Donegal. He was air lifted to Sligo General Hospital, found to be physically well and later discharged.
"He's fine, he's just a bit tired, a bit dazed," Gary's sister Man a (24) said yesterday.
The family, P.J. and Vera Murphy and their daughters Maria Patricia and Jennifer, kept an all night vigil in their home. It was a terrible night, absolutely terrible said Maria.
Gary had been playing by him self at the back of his family home when he disappeared at about 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
After a search by the family failed to find him, the Garda was alerted. More than 100 local people joined gardai and Killybegs Coast and Cliff Rescue, personnel in an intensive search.
The Mountain Rescue Team from Newcastle, Co Down, the Donegal Sub aqua Club, and the Army and the Civil Defence were involved in the search. A Shannon based marine rescue helicopter, equipped with heat seeking equipment, also took cart.
The search was scaled down at 1.30 am yesterday and them resumed at 8.15 a.m.
The boy was found around 10.30 a.m. by a ground search party made up of gardai, members of the Killybegs Coast and Cliff Rescue group, and local people, shortly after a garda had spotted his discarded Wellington.
He was dressed in a blue zip up sweater, corduroy trousers and wellingtons. When he was found he had taken off one of the wellingtons and this had first been spotted by a garda nearby.
He was fortunate," said Supt Michael Duffy. "It was a mild night and morning." He praised the various organisations involved in finding Gary, and said the knowledge of local people had bee n very important.
"The local people and all the organisations were very, very good," said Gary's sister, Maria.
It was unusual for Gary to stray far from his home.
The Garda believes that once he had done so, he then became disorientated and wandered off "through the fields.
"We don't know exactly where he was, as yet," said Man suppose we won't ever finds "what happened."
