North Shore teens hailed for rescue in state forest
By Sarah Gantz, Globe Correspondent
Four 14-year-old boys from Middleton are being hailed as heroes after rescuing two 9-year-olds who had lost their way last weekend in a state forest on the North Shore.
The teenagers, who were on a bike ride through the Boxford State Forest, found the younger boys cold and shoeless. The teenagers carried the younger boys on their backs nearly a mile to the nearest road.
“I thought it was dogs barking, but it was actually kids yelling for help,” said Travis Brown, a freshman at Masconomet High School.
The younger boys were reported missing to Boxford Police at 4:15 p.m. One of the boys’ parents had last seen them at about 1 p.m., when they were venturing into the woods behind one boy’s house on Crooked Pond Drive, said Boxford Police Chief Gordon Russell.
Paul Calisi, another one of the 14-year-old rescuers, called police on his cell phone after they had encountered the lost boys. Police were able to direct the boys to the nearest road, Ross Lane in Middleton, by blaring their sirens, Russell said.
The crew emerged from the woods shortly before 6 p.m, as daylight was fading. The four boys had replaced the 9-year-olds' wet socks with mittens.
"These four ninth-graders really used very good sense," Russell said.
Both Calisi and Brown said they were glad they could help the Boxford boys. "I never thought I was going to save some kids' lives on a bike ride," said Brown.
