Reno teen found between Johnsville and La Porte
A 17-year-old Reno teen thought to have run away from home took Plumas County law enforcement officials on a hunt through Graeagle, Sloat and Cromberg, eventually ending somewhere between Johnsville and La Porte on Tuesday, Feb. 18.
Footprints in the snow are what led personnel on snowmobiles to the missing teen.
It was Sunday, Feb. 16, when a hunt began for Caleb Wilson.
He was reported missing out of Washoe County on Friday, Feb. 14, according to information from the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office. He was last seen wearing Carhartt pants, a green flannel shirt, boots and no jacket.
It was thought Wilson was spotted at a business in Blairsden on Sunday, Feb. 16. It was revealed that he might be at a residence in Graeagle. Wilson’s mother was attempting to locate the name of a person he might have been staying with. That location was later checked, but Wilson wasn’t there.
At that time a deputy was meeting with Wilson’s parents in continued efforts to locate him. A little while later, a USFS fire captain discovered a barrack’s door open at one of their facilities. He requested that a deputy assist in checking the building for the missing teen.
Next, a deputy checked with people at the 20-Mile House and then other residents with homes along the railroad tracks in that area. The deputy left the teen’s description and business cards requesting that residents call the sheriff’s office if they saw him.
By Feb. 17, be on the lookout (BOLOs) requests were sent to Lassen and Butte counties. The California Highway Patrol was also notified.
And as the search continued contact was made with the CHP’s Air Ops helicopter to fly the La Porte area. It was the helicopter crew that noted the footprints in the snow and alerted ground searchers. “The area where the footprints were discovered is a remote, forested area with approximately two-feet of snow and located between Johnsville and La Porte,” said Plumas County Sheriff Todd Johns.
Wilson was about 4 miles north of La Porte, Johns said.
He was found in good health and was given a ride to the sheriff’s office in Quincy.
No information was given about why Wilson ran away or what his plans were.
