An autistic 17-year-old New Jersey boy survived nearly two days alone in cold, wooded terrain before FBI agents found him curled up beside a tree, wearing only a T-shirt and shorts, Fox News reports. Joel Medina, who relatives say functions at the level of a 6-year-old, disappeared Friday near his Egg Harbor Township home, triggering fears he’d been abducted after surveillance cameras failed to show him leaving.
Local police, county search teams, state police, Coast Guard helicopters, drones, K-9 units, and dive teams scoured the area before calling in the FBI on Saturday. Agents canvassed the neighborhood for video, interviewed turkey hunters in search of trail-camera footage, and deployed an FBI aircraft for a nighttime grid search. Three hours later, the plane flagged a suspicious area deep in preserved land, and agents hiked through mud and thick brush to reach it. They located Medina, got him out of the woods under the watch of the aviation team, and returned scratched and bleeding after trekking through heavy brush. FBI Director Kash Patel said the operation showed “the best of the FBI” and credited coordination with local and federal partners for bringing Joel home.
“JOEL is ok and was just reunited with FAMILY! Thank you to EVERYONE that never quit, never lost hope and assisted with this HAPPY ENDING! We will do a larger post later, as it’s been a long two days!” reads a social media post cited by NBC 10.
