BARABOO, Wis. – With no luck and only a a few clues, searchers have looked six days for a missing seventh-grader who apparently is camping on his own in the rugged 9,200-acre Devil’s Lake State Park or thereabouts. James Yoblonski went missing overnught Sunday from his family home 20 miles away at Reedsburg. A van and a gun were missing, the family said. On the first day of the search, the van was found parked along Highway 12. The boy’s phone was across the road. Later searchers f found a campsite in nearby woods. Other campsites also have been found — and items like socks and a knife sheath that may be his. There have been no sightings. Deputies have covered 5,000 acres both in the park and nearby. The forest is dense in places that deputies haven’t been able to see six feet ahead of themselves. The search has included 10 K9s, two airplanes, and a helicopter. An endangered person alert has been issued.
Dad’s details
The Yoblonski lad’s father Bill says he has no idea why the boy would run off. In an interview with WKOW, the father acknowledged tat he himfelf had had two survival books received as gifts “Come to find out he’s got one of those with him.” Might the boy be attempting a survivalist mission, going off the grid. and wanting to know how long he could make it on his own the wilderness? The father called James “a smart kid,” but added: “This is uncalled for, to do something like this and not to talk to anybody abut it.” The father said he wanted James to know he won’t be punished when he comes back.
Yoblonski. Not thought to be a danger to himself. Stands 5-foot-11, weighs 120 pounds. Blue-green eyes, short brown hair, a scar on the back of his neck. When he last seen, wearing red shoes, blue jeans, a shirt, and a baseball hat.