Scout missing in Uintas

MIRROR LAKE HIGHWAY, Summit County — For the second time in as many years, a Boy Scout has turned up missing in the Uinta Mountains.

Search and rescue crews scoured the rugged Summit County Uintas Saturday for 11-year-old Brennan Hawkins. He was wearing a blue sweat shirt, black shorts and a pair of Nike tennis shoes when he went missing Friday night.

"I don't know how he'll survive a second night. I don't know how any child could," his mother, Jody Hawkins, said in tears Saturday.

Summit County sheriff's officials say Brennan was last seen walking away from a rock climbing wall with a friend around 5 p.m. Friday at the east fork of the Bear River Boy Scout Reservation. The camp is near Elizabeth Ridge, 50 miles east of Kamas.

When he didn't show up for dinner, his group became worried and contacted the Summit County Sheriff's Office about 9:30 p.m.

"He must have separated from his friend," Jody Hawkins said. "He doesn't have a great sense of direction."

Jody Hawkins said she was hesitant to let her son go on the camping trip with a family friend. "He's never been away from us; we like to keep close tabs on him."

Brennan just finished the fifth grade at Bountiful's Muir Elementary School.

Summit County Sheriff Dave Edmunds said the search will take crews into remote parts of the area, including parts of Wyoming. More than 1,000 searchers, some with dogs, were assisted by a Utah Highway Patrol helicopter Saturday.

Searchers walked in lines looking for any clue throughout the day and into the night Saturday. They searched on horseback and combed the mountain on ATVs while helicopters searched the terrain from overhead. The searchers were fighting against heat and wind that kicked up dust and muffled their calls. The swollen banks of the Bear River created challenges for Summit and Salt Lake County swift water crews searching for signs of the boy.

And the aspens and pines — just feet, sometimes inches apart — often made it difficult for searchers to see.

"It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack," said Doug Pickering, a member of the Hawkins' Bountiful LDS ward.

A tearful Toby Hawkins, the boy's father, said he knows that his son is alive and asked the public to help bring Brennan safely home.

"My greatest plea at this time, and the way we can find my boy, is for anybody and everybody to come out and help," Toby Hawkins said.