Lost and found

LOST

At this time yesterday, I was getting ready for work, anticipating the story of the day would be to update the search for a 7-year-old Portland boy who was discovered missing at the end of the school day.

I'd gone to bed Friday night, knowing police had been searching for him overnight in a sparsely populated area of northwest Portland. Sure enough, when I got work about an hour later, the search had been expanded to a criminal investigation involving the FBI. Not a good sign.

One can only imagine the heartache that little boy's parents were feeling. I took some comfort in the mild, dry weather -- a blessed break from the nearly nonstop rain we've had for the past several weeks. If little Kyron Horman (3-foot-8, 50 pounds) were out there, dry weather would help his chances of survival.

I helped pull together resources in coordinating early stages of the coverage Saturday but then handed off in mid-afternoon to the night editor and cops reporter, plus a couple of breaking news specialists who came in on their day off to help out.

And now here I am, 24 hours later and I fear this sad story will lead to an unhappy ending. A child is still missing, a whole city is distraught and the rain has come back.

FOUND

After work, Lori and I went to the home of some friends who'd asked us to come celebrate two milestones: the 16th birthday of their bichon frise, Lucy, and the miraculous return of their newly adopted mutt, Martin, who'd survived 11 days in the central Oregon wilderness.

The Oregonian's pet columnist, Jacques Von Lunen, explained the unlikely tale of survival and the even more unlikely circumstances of Martin's even being in the United States in a blog post last week. Long story short: Our friend Alexandra brought him over from Thailand and had him only a couple months when he literally ran out the door of a lodge where they were staying and bolted for the woods.

Somehow, Martin survived 11 days in and around the Ochoco National Forest in the same wet, dreary weather we'd experienced here in western Oregon and -- through social networking sites, an automated phone call service and the good hearts of some local residents -- was found about 15 miles east of where he'd run away.

Martin lost 4 pounds off his already thin frame, but seemed in remarkably good shape otherwise considering his ordeal. If only he could talk, what would he tell us about what why he ran, how he subsisted, what emotions he felt and to what he credits his survival?

I can only hope that Kyron's parents have the same opportunity to welcome their precious son back into their home.

Photograph of Kyron Horman: From his stepmother's Facebook page.