Caleb Linn Body Found: Missing Arkansas 4-Year-Old Discovered In River

Caleb Linn, 4, was last seen on March 24 at Kia Kima Scout Reservation in Hardy, Arkansas. On March 28, his body was found near the Spring River in the Ozark foothills.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Searchers found the body of a 4-year-old boy Wednesday in the river at an Arkansas Boy Scout camp where he was tagging along with his aunt last weekend.

A search team in a canoe spotted Caleb Linn's body in a tributary of the Spring River, according to the Fulton County Sheriff's office.

Caleb went missing Saturday at the 900-acre Kia Kima Scout Reservation near Hardy, Ark. Searchers in boats and on horseback, foot and four-wheelers scoured the valley for days before finding two shirts he had been wearing in the river on Tuesday afternoon. His body was found less than 24 hours later.

"As long as we have each other, it's OK," said Caleb's uncle, Chris Bruner.

Authorities narrowed their focus to the water late Tuesday and called off the ground search for Caleb. He had gone with his aunt and several other children to help clear storm debris from a bridge at the camp that his aunt was looking after while the regular caretaker was away.

When five of the children left to go back to the cabins around lunchtime, Caleb asked if he could follow. His aunt told him he could, but that he had to stick to the road, Fulton County Sheriff Buck Foley said. The last she saw of him before she turned around to resume her work, he said, was Caleb standing at the end of the bridge.

Hundreds of volunteers turned out to help in the search, and divers cleared debris and stuck an underwater camera beneath the bridge and under ledges where they couldn't get a clear view. Dry and unseasonably warm weather had lent hope to Caleb's chances of survival. Even after searchers found the shirts he was wearing the day he disappeared, Caleb's great-grandmother held out hope someone would find him alive.

"Just because they found the clothes doesn't mean we give up hope," Carolyn Truex said Tuesday evening.

Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said searchers found Caleb's body in the river about a half-mile from the bridge where the boy was last seen. His body was to be sent to the state crime lab.

Family members, including Bruner, had fought their way along sandy trails and through thorny branches that would snap back with a thwack as they searched for Caleb on Tuesday. Another uncle, Joey Dawson, even swam to a small island in the middle of the river, just in case Caleb had gotten stranded there.

Caleb's mom and stepdad had travelled from their home in Springdale, 150 miles west of Hardy, and have been staying at one of the cabins while searchers looked for the boy.

Shortly after searchers found Caleb's body, his family started to grieve near the bridge where he was last seen. Bruner says they'll likely bring his body back to northwest Arkansas for a funeral there. In the meantime, a memorial fund has been set up to help Caleb's family pay for his funeral.

"We have a little bit of money, but it's nothing like what he deserves," Bruner said. "We'll do what we can with what we have."

___

Follow Jeannie Nuss at http://twitter.com/jeannienuss

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Comments

[HammerHeadCombatSystems]

10:57 PM on 04/04/2012

Echoes of Adam Walsh.

[peskime]

07:57 AM on 04/02/2012

As a mother of a small kid, I could never imagine letting a four year old go off somewhere without adult supervision. It's unthinkable, however, I know sometimes, adults make rash judgments and this was the unintended, tragic ending. The aunt is going to live with a tremendous amount of guilt and regret. I hope she will find some sort of peace. I feel for her very much.
RIP sweet little one, may your family find peace and others learn from this preventable tragedy.

[thenewgirl]

08:19 PM on 04/01/2012

poor little guy :(

[yukidongo1]

05:19 AM on 03/31/2012

When I was a child, we were told to do something or not to do it, and we did as we were told. I would never tell a 4 year old to stick to the road, today, and even expect them to do it... This was a tragedy that was preventable. This boils down to human error or just plain stupidity. We lock doors and deadbolts that are above the children's heads and reach when we aren't actively keeping a hawking eye on them. Children like to go outside. They don't always ask. They disappear. They drown. What ever...watch your children. And, I heard a parent say "he never did this before...". Maybe the opportunity didn't present itself. Children are CHILDREN! They are not small people or adults. They don't have the capability to think consequences in the abstract...

[Natosha Brinkley]

08:24 PM on 03/31/2012

"When I was a child, we were told to do something or not to do it, and we did as we were told."

..then you say that children are children...you contradict yourself...I think you mean to say that you didn't always do as you were told, because you, like this 4 year old, were a child. Children do not have the capacity to reason at an advanced level at this age, period. You were no different. There, that's better.

[yukidongo1]

11:38 PM on 03/31/2012

There was only a slight difference... We had consequences for our actions that have not been applied for many years. We didn't have to reason. Our axxes got beat. We didn't think, we obeyed. Still, what I said is that they don't reason. But, they seem to have no propensity to listen to adults anymore, either.

[MaMaBass]

08:11 AM on 03/30/2012

a 4 year old on their own. Shame it came to this. How easily prevented.

[Bipitybopityboop]

02:24 PM on 03/29/2012

Taking this story as a reminder that kids this age need to be supervised by an adult at all times.

[BowlingForRevenge]

10:21 AM on 03/29/2012

I'm sorry but allowing a 4 year old to find his way back to a non visible cabin down a road without adult supervision? The aunt is 100% negligent. If he'd been 8 or 9 different story but FOUR YEARS OLD? Hell they can't even wipe themselves good!

[seriously77]

10:48 AM on 03/29/2012

That was my comment yesterday! Totally agree. The cabin, they said, was about 1/2 a mile away. The other kids had gone ahead and then the 4yo decided to join them. Sometimes you just have to say no to kids.

[yukidongo1]

05:21 AM on 03/31/2012

Negligence... Ignorance... Idiocy... If it were my sister I'd be in jail, becuse I am afraid I'd kill her. How can anyone be so stupid?

[Melissa Irlandez]

09:16 AM on 03/29/2012

What his mother must be going through, can not even imagine. No one watches children like their on moms, and dads- that is the sad fact. 4 yrs old is way too young just to let him go on his own, they wander, they trip, they bend over stuff and fall. Rest in peace tiny one.

[txgirl931]

08:35 AM on 03/29/2012

No mom can look at this without getting upset...be careful with your babies!

[JoeCic]

07:45 AM on 03/29/2012

May this boy rest in peace! how does the aunt live with herself now

[mcmutter]

07:35 AM on 03/29/2012

.... sad

[Ayesha Khan]

07:02 AM on 03/29/2012

Another heart break news, what a tragedy. Kids around this age must remain under strict vigilance, they can attempt dangerous things, but accidents do happen, sometimes a bit of un intentional negligence can be tragic just the way in this case. What a great loss for the parents, no words to console them. May God give them enough patience to bear the loss---

[Topps]

06:58 AM on 03/29/2012

This tragic, I don't get it a four year old not supervised constantly.

[The Restorer]

09:09 AM on 03/29/2012

Sad end to what was supposed to be a little time away from the city. But the fact of the matter is this could have easily been prevented. Someone needed to either walk and hold that child's hand or have a person walk in front and behind him. He's 4 and curious. Probably enjoying himself up until that point. Camping and getting away is great stuff for kids but it does have its precautions. #1 rule: Go over all the rules the minute you get to your destination and in this case watching the baby should have been the top priority. Very sorry to read this story.

[Sinakast]

06:45 AM on 03/29/2012

I live on water and never left either of my children unattended at that age. Kids love water, and when it is warm, they want to be in it. 4 year olds are not known to be particularly good at following directions if they see something they would rather be doing. I have to wonder if the aunt had any children of her own, not to have taken that into consideration?

[catslegl]

06:31 AM on 03/29/2012

I'm so sorry for the family. May they find peace.