Gloucester County K9 locates three missing children in wooded area.Gloucester County Sheriff's Office

A Sheriff’s bloodhound in South Jersey located three boys last week after they ventured off into the woods and couldn’t find their way back home.

The parents of Kai and Jojo, 9, and Leo, 7, called the Magnolia Police Department about 4 p.m. last Monday after the boys went too far while riding their bikes in the neighborhood.

After finding their bicycles near the entrance to a creek, the police notified the Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office K9 handlers, from the neighboring county.

A two-year-old blood hound named Shiloh located the boys in a large wooded area in about an hour-and-a-half, matching the scent of one of them with bed sheets that were provided by a parent.

“When I first saw them, it almost looked like ‘Lord of the Flies,’” said K9 Officer Alexander Molner. “Three kids in bathing suits, trying to make a fire.”

The children told police that after they realized they were lost, they decided to stay where they were and attempt to make a fire.

Prior to trekking into the wooded area, they watched videos about surviving in the wilderness by the YouTube star Mr. Beast and took his advice to stay in one spot after getting lost.

Molnar recalls one of the boys shouting, “thank God you found us,” as the search crew approached.

“They didn’t know where they were at that point and they were just planning on surviving until someone showed up,” Molner said. “So they were very happy that we were there.”

The children were uninjured, aside from having minor scratches on their bodies, police said.

The boys also swam in the creek at one point and traveled through areas with significant elevation changes, Molner said.

“We have apps on our phones that track the elevation and at one point I checked and there was a 60-foot change,” he said.

Molner said the boys did not understand the ramifications of their adventure. The search involved multiple law enforcement agencies, firefighters and neighborhood volunteers.

“Picture the amount of resources that were pouring into this area and these kids didn’t even know it was happening,” he said.

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Nicolas Fernandes may be reached at nfernandes@njadvancemedia.com.

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