Howl of coyotes leads searchers to missing child

WENTZVILLE, Mo. -- Mike Runge heard a coyote howl and had a hunch it would lead him to a missing 2-year-old boy.

That hunch early Tuesday ended an eight-hour search for Tristan Owens, who was found about 1:20 a.m. unharmed but surrounded by coyotes in the woods behind his home in Wentzville, near the St. Charles-Lincoln County lines.

The harrowing experience began when the boy disappeared about 5:30 p.m. Monday from his backyard. While his mother, Stacy Owens, planted a rosebush, Tristan played with the family's Jack Russell terrier, Jake.

Owens told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch she left briefly to get a watering can, and when she came back, Tristan and the dog were gone. She thought they went into the house and didn't realize until later that Tristan had followed the dog into the woods.

Owens called police. Her fear became even worse an hour later when the dog returned without Tristan.

As 158 searchers looked for Tristan, Stacy Owens spent most of the evening praying with her husband, Eric, and the boy's sisters, Rhiannon, 14, and Crisana, 4.

After midnight, searchers were being called in for the night. But Runge and Wentzville firefighter Lynn Stephenson had heard what sounded like a scream followed by a coyote howling in the distance. Both men are hunters and recognized the distinct wail.

"Coyotes hunt in packs, and when they hear something in distress, they call each other in," Runge said. "So I started believing that we were both hunting the same thing."

As they walked through the heavy woods and dense fog, they heard what again sounded like a scream and the response from a second coyote, then more yelling and coyote howling.

"The coyotes were coming together as if they were stalking something, so we started tracking the coyotes, hoping they would lead us to the boy," Runge said.

A few minutes later, the searchers spotted two coyotes, scared them off and began calling for Tristan. They heard a noise and ran in that direction.

"Out of the darkness, I heard this little voice say, 'Will you take me home?"' Runge said.

Tristan was standing beneath the limbs of a fallen tree. His clothes were torn, he had bug bites and scrapes on his face, legs and arms, but he was otherwise OK.

Animal experts say it's hard to know for sure what danger the coyotes might have posed to the boy. Steve Bircher, curator of mammals at the St. Louis Zoo, said rare cases have been documented of coyotes attacking humans.

Stacy Owens said Tristan mentioned only bits and pieces about his adventure.

"He told me that he woke up in the woods, so apparently he took a nap somewhere along the way," she said. "He was afraid, I believe."

Runge was glad he followed his hunch.

"Hearing that voice come out of the dark was like winning the lottery," he said. "When we heard that voice, we just looked at each other, and we knew we had him."