MARQUETTE — A missing 14-year-old boy was found last Tuesday by Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officers south of Marquette.

According to the DNR’s press release, Conservation Officer John Kamps and probationary Conservation Officer Steve Sajtar were patrolling nearby and began searching the area after Marquette County Central Dispatch informed local emergency responders of a runaway boy.

While searching, Kamps and Sajtar found a set of footprints and began tracking them south of County Road 545 North and Maplewood Road.

Officers followed the footprints until they found a person walking, who confirmed a boy matching the missing teen’s description had walked east on Maplewood Road approximately three hours earlier.

The footprints continued for over a mile until Maplewood Road became a dead end. Officers followed into the swampland surrounding Foster Creek where the snow went up to the officer’s thighs.

“With below-freezing temperatures and only a couple hours of daylight left, time was of the essence,” Sajtar said in a press release. “We knew the boy was likely cold and wet from the swamp.”

Kamps and Sajtar found the boy sitting on a snowbank along Foster Creek at 6:10 p.m., wearing only a shirt and pajama pants.

The boy had removed his wet shoes and socks because he had fallen into the creek. He wrapped his bare feet in his jacket in an attempt to stay warm, telling the officers that he was freezing cold.

A brief first-aid scan was conducted by the officers who noted the boy had a loss of pigmentation and numbness in his feet. According to the press release, Kamps removed his wool gloves for the boy to put on his feet.

Kamps and Sajtar helped the boy walk about 275 yards, where an ambulance met them west of U.S. Highway 41. EMS transported the boy to UP Health System-Marquette, where he was treated for exposure.

The DNR is not releasing the boy’s name because he is a minor.

To read the full press release, visit online at content.govdelivery.com/accounts/MIDNR/bulletins/350c159.