02/12/2026
In January 2019, 3-year-old Casey Hathaway disappeared into the woods of Craven County, near Croatan National Forest. If you know that area, you know it isn’t light backyard timber. It’s thick. Swampy. Tangled. The kind of woods that swallow sound and direction fast.
It was cold. It was raining. Night temps were in the 40s.
He was missing for three days.
Search crews pushed through briars and lowland brush before finally finding him about a quarter mile from where he vanished, wrapped up in heavy thicket. Scratches. Bug bites. Mild hypothermia. But alive.
Anyone who has spent time in wet winter woods knows how fast cold sets in. A three-year-old is not building shelter. He is not navigating swamp corridors with intention. He is not managing exposure.
Yet he survived.
When asked how, Casey told family that a “bear” stayed with him and kept him warm.
This is not the only time a lost child has made that claim. In 1955, a two-year-old named Ida Mae Curtis was found after spending two days alone in Montana’s Kootenai National Forest. Newspaper reports at the time relayed that she said a bear had been with her. There are also references to an 1888 newspaper account describing a young child who claimed a bear kept her warm while stranded in the wilderness. These older stories were reported in newspapers of their day, though none were wildlife-verified or scientifically investigated.
Black bears do live in eastern North Carolina. That’s true. But no confirmed bear tracks or bedding evidence were released in Casey’s case. And documented protective behavior toward a human child is not typical bear behavior.
The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization continues to log sightings across North Carolina. In fact, the most recent BFRO report for the state was in July 2025, when two witnesses described a large upright dark-haired figure crossing a rural road in daylight before disappearing into timber. Broad shoulders. Long arms. Smooth bipedal movement that did not resemble a bear.
Across counties surrounding Croatan, reports commonly describe upright hairy figures moving along swamp edges, wood knocks at night, objects thrown from brush, and intelligent evasive behavior in dense lowland forest.
The terrain Casey was found in fits that same environment.
A three-year-old does not have language for unknown hominin.
He says bear.
Large. Hairy. In the woods.
We are not claiming conclusions.
But when a child survives three cold, wet days in terrain that has taken grown hunters off their feet, and says something stayed with him, it deserves a second look.
So what do you think was really out there?
