Once missing teen in Crystal Lake area found in good health

CRYSTAL LAKE, Summit County — A "full deployment" of search and rescue teams in Summit and Wasatch counties was initiated Tuesday after a 17-year-old boy went missing in the Crystal Lake area.

The boy was found in good condition about six hours later approximately two miles west of the Crystal Lake trailhead, officials said.

Joseph Schellenberg of Rexburg, Idaho — who has a diminished capacity and functions at the level of a 6- or 7-year-old — was reported missing around 10:30 a.m., Summit County Sgt. Ron Bridge said. By 5 p.m., he had been located in "good condition."

Schellenberg was located nearly five miles from his campsite by a member of Summit County Search and Rescue and flown back to Crystal Lake where he was reunited with his family, officials said.

The boy had last been seen by family members around 11 p.m. as he was going to bed in a tent he was sharing with a younger sibling. The family had hiked the Long Lake trail into the area to camp around 3 p.m. Monday. At some point during the night, Schellenberg left his tent, walked away from the family's campsite and got lost.

"I zipped his tent closed and when we woke up this morning, he was gone," said Aaron Schellenberg, Joseph's father.

The boy was wearing only a brown flannel shirt and jeans at the time. When he was found, the boy was reportedly tired and hungry but otherwise unharmed by the ordeal.

Search and rescue teams from Wasatch and Summit counties, Summit County deputies, horse and dog teams and a Life Flight helicopter were dispatched to the area to help with the search.

— Emiley Morgan

Twitter: DNewsCrimeTeam