Jun 23, 2009 9:22 pm US/Eastern
Teen Who Vanished After Police Chase, Found Safe
Suspect Ran Into Woods After Crashing Into A Tree
Lee, N.H. (WBZ) ―
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According to police, Russell Call eluded police and K-9 units after a police chase in New Hampshire on Sunday. Call crashed into a tree and fled into the woods on foot.
WBZ
A Newton, Mass. teenager who was the subject of a two day search in the woods of New Hampshire, has been found safe.
Russell Call, 19, is accused of leading police on a chase early Sunday morning, then running from the scene after his vehicle crashed into a tree in Epping, N.H. He had been clocked at driving 128 mph on I-95.
Authorities feared Call may have been injured in the crash and spent two days searching the area near the crash scene.
Call's mother, Maggie Holtzberg, told WBZ that her son called her Tuesday morning. He said he was not injured in the crash.
"All I care about, he's alive and not hurt," she said.
According to Lt. Kevin Jordan of New Hampshire Fish & Game, Call spent two days and nights in the cold, wet woods – including one night inside an abandoned car. He followed the North River the entire time and emerged Tuesday morning about one mile from the crash scene, in the yard of a home in Lee. The homeowners saw him outside, and invited him inside where he phoned his mother.
"He just looked like a young man who'd been outside for a few days," said Joany Fleming. "He looked kind of tired, and his clothes were dirty, and he was bare-footed."
Call was dehydrated, hungry and barefoot, but in overall good health, Jordan said. He was taken to Wentworth-Douglas Hospital in Dover to be checked out.
Jordan also said that Call appeared emotional and remorseful.
"He knows this is a bad situation, and he was scared," Holtzberg said. "I'm so relieved that my son is alive and healthy. I don't know what is going to happen from here, but I thought he was gone."
Searchers said it was remarkable that the teen didn't become hypothermic. He was wearing only shorts and a button-down shirt, with overnight temperatures that dipped into the 40s.
Hundreds of people were involved in the search for the teenager. In cases of this nature, the N.H. Attorney General decides whether the victim of the search will be billed for the cost.
WBZ has learned Call will have to pay back the cost of the search, which totaled $8,000.
New Hampshire State Police are handling the criminal investigation relative to the original vehicle chase. Call was being held Tuesday morning at the Rockingham County House of Corrections on $7,500 cash bail. He is charged with reckless conduct, a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison. He also faces a misdemeanor charge of disobeying a police officer, punishable by up to one year in prison.
Police say because he was not cooperative with police officers, which led up to the chase and him hiding out for two days, more charges could be forthcoming.
WBZ's Karen Anderson contributed to this report.
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