CRATER LAKE — With hope diminishing that an 8-year-old boy could survive after six cold nights in the wilds of Crater Lake National Park, searchers will scale back their efforts "significantly" today, officials said.

Searchers returned Thursday to concentrate on the area where Samuel "Sammie" Boehlke was last seen.

About 100 people spread out for a quarter-mile lined up on Rim Drive and walked into the backcountry looking under rocks, downed logs and into crevasses, then wheeled and walked back to the road on a different route, but found nothing.

In a press release faxed to media agencies late Thursday, park officials said the chances of Boehlke surviving his ordeal were slim.

"Due to the low likelihood of survival after five days in cold, wet and snowy conditions, the search ... will shift to a limited continuous search" beginning this morning.

Advertisement

"Our sympathies go out to Samuel's family, and we understand how difficult it must be for them to cope with this uncertainty," said Chief Ranger Dave Brennan.

Officials said most teams assigned to the search will be relased today, but "small-scale ground and air searches will continue intermittently until winter arrives," the relases states.

Boehlke and his father, Kenneth, both of Portland, were spending the weekend with family at nearby Diamond Lake Resort when they decided to drive up to Crater Lake for a hike on Saturday.

When Kenneth Boehlke parked the car along Rim Drive overlooking the lake near the Cleetwood Cove trailhead, Sammie ran up the hill and disappeared into the woods.

Park personnel mounted a search Saturday evening and then called in help. About 210 people were taking part in search efforts on Thursday.

The family has remained in seclusion, but through Evenson said the boy suffered from a form of autism known as sensory integration disorder, which causes him to cover his ears and hide when he hears loud noises. Because of his condition, searchers have been asked not to blow whistles or sirens.

Since Saturday, the search has been gradually moving farther and farther from the pink ribbon tied around a dead tree that marks the last place Sammy was seen.

But on Thursday, incident commander Denny Ziemann said searchers were concentrating on the area within about a mile and a half of that spot, going over ground they have already gone over two and three times, but in the most concentrated way yet.

"It is as thorough a tactic as we have available to look for clues and signs," Ziemann said. "The problem we've had throughout this is the terrain."

Ziemann said as the probability of finding the boy decreases, the search will be scaled back.