Details Emerge After 3-Year-Old Boy Survives 2 Days Solo in Montana Wilderness: 'He Was Very, Very Scared'
Lincoln County Sheriff's Office - Montana/Facebook Ryker Webb
Officials in Montana are sharing more details about 3-year-old Ryker Webb, who spent two days on his own in the wilderness and managed to protect himself.
The plucky tyke — who was reported missing from his home in Troy, Montana, on the afternoon of June 3 after disappearing from his yard — was found by a family visiting their cabin in an area known to be populated with mountain lions and bears, Lincoln County Sheriff Darren Short told Today.
"He was very, very scared," Short told the outlet, describing how the hungry, thirsty and cold little boy's "eyes lit up" once he learned that he would soon be returned to his parents. "He had a wide-eyed scared look until he got back to his mom and dad."
The family who discovered Ryker was checking on a generator in a shed on their property when they heard a voice coming from the structure on June 5, Today reported. At the time, teams of ground searchers, drones, dog teams and two National Guard helicopters were busy combing the wilderness area for the boy.
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The red-headed toddler reportedly told Short that he left his family's property — where he had been seen playing with the family dog — to go for a walk before growing exhausted. He was found two miles from his home.
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Adverse weather conditions initially hampered efforts to locate the boy. But searchers and rescue team members were able to get a sense of the general direction that Ryker was walking after he wandered away from his home by following a trail of rocks that appeared to have been recently moved.
Lincoln County Sheriff's Office - Montana/Facebook Ryker Webb
"Little Ryker is very interested in bugs and insects," Short told Today. "As ground searchers walked up the trail behind his house, they could tell some rocks had been freshly turned over like a kid would do if they were looking for bugs."
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The sheriff told Today that authorities wanted to know why there was apparently a two-hour delay in reporting Ryker missing.
"We're still looking into why he disappeared, and why he wasn't being watched closely," Short said in his interview.
PEOPLE has contacted the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office for comment. The boy's parents have not been publicly named.
