Within hours after the distraught Bowman family had notified the authorities of Tommy's disappearance, the area was being searched by over four hundred volunteers, trained rescue dogs, mounted patrols, and bush beaters. Experienced forest rangers thoroughly examined any crevices into which the child might have crawled or fallen. The forest trail on which Tommy was last seen was crossed and recrossed by dozens of keen-eyed outdoorsmen. The extensive search was supplemented by low-flying helicopters that criss-crossed the entire area again and again.
To those persons knowledgeable in the ways of woodlore it was quickly and easily determined that the eight-year-old had not slipped off the trail. No dislodged rocks, tornaway shrubs, or broken branches betrayed such an accident at the spot where Tommy had last been seen. And it must be remembered that the boy's family had been but a few steps behind him, and they surely would have heard Tommy cry out if he had somehow tripped and fallen off the forest path. Even if the boy had not screamed out in fear if he had missed his footing, the family would have been close enough behind him to have seen and to have heard him fall.
The volunteers and the professionals searched for little Tommy Bowman for a week, but it appeared that the boy had been literally plucked from the earth by some unseen and unknown force.
...
July 13, 1960, marked the day of six-year-old Bruce Kremens first Y.M.C.A. hike. It also marked the day that the boy would disappear without a trace and become another addition to the list of the unfortunate who were claimed by California's Forest of Disappearing Children.
Little Bruce had been brimming with enthusiasm for the hike at the outset of the trek, but the altitude seemed to be too much for him. Noticing the boy's discomfort, the group leader told Bruce to return to the main camp and rest. The leader told the boy that since they were still within sight of the camp, it would be best if he went back at once.
The conscientious leader halted the column of eager boys while he walked with Bruce until they were within just a few yards of the camp's perimeter.
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