It is impossible, with all my jobs, to have a set day off. I do try, however, to keep Mondays kind of light. That plan doesn’t always work out; and it definitely didn’t today.

As I sit here, I am still soaked with sweat from a manhunt. Yes, you read correctly; a manhunt.

Jeane and I noticed a few vehicles parked across the street from us today. This raised a little bit of concern, due to the fact that we live at the end of the street in our neighborhood, which we affectionately refer to as Del Boca Vista. I went out to investigate this afternoon and saw a couple of folks walking the fenceline at the edge of the yet-to-be-completed third phase of Del Boca Vista. I didn’t think it was particularly safe for them out there, but I am a live-and-let-live kinda guy. So, since I was convinced they weren’t casing my house, I didn’t think anything of it.

A bit later, Jeane told me there was another car back across the street. I went outside, and there were several cars lining the street all the way from the corner. We are the only house on our street, on either side, so this is a very odd occurance. I approached one vehicle, which had someone in the driver’s seat, as a man got out of the car and asked if I could help them.

It was at this point that the man told me that his son had run off into the woods (just beyond the boundary of Del Boca Vista) last night and that they were searching for him. I got a name and description of the missing high-school aged boy and told him I would be out to help as soon as I changed my shoes.

When I got back outside, Jeane said he had told her the kid ran into the woods last night and they had been out searching with cops last night. I don’t know where we were, but we never noticed. Not finding him, the boy’s friends and family had returned today.

Once I got to the wooded area, and got through two barbed-wire fences, I was told he was barefoot and they had found some tracks. They had also found his belt, which had been cut off.

And the search began. I am always amazed that 100 yards from relative civilization, there can be complete and utter wilderness. There was heavy underbrush, lots of thorns, the occasional snake, and lots of bugs. The only shape I am in is round, but I set out trekking through the brush looking for bare foot prints or other signs.

I made it all the way to the interstate, then headed back around without seeing many signs of man. An occasional footprint in the mud indicated a searcher had been by recently, but that was about it. I eventually ran into a couple of other searchers, who reported they had not seen anything either. We took a breather, then fanned back out.

As I was walking, I heard one of the men talking to someone. I looked toward him, and he approached and said he had found the young man. He was backing off, as the young man had told him to do. He told me the direction of the boy, and I moved that way. About that time, I saw him running away. Not about to let him disappear into the woods again, I took off after him and followed him to a little nest area in which he took cover.

Slowly, a few of us encircled that area. The boy was not happy at all. He yelled for us to leave, among other things. I let him know that I wasn’t going to hurt him, and I was not going to come near him, but I was not going to leave. I attempted to talk to him. It became very obvious that he was not in good mental condition. One of the men left to find his father. As I stood there, with him still in sight, I weighed my options. I am big enough that I thought I could take him. However, I have heard that people with mental difficulties have extraordinary strength. And, I did not know whether or not he was armed. Then I remembered that they had found his belt cut off of him. I was relatively sure he had at least a knife. Erring on the side of caution, I continued to wait and think of an alternate plan.

Eventually teh man who had left brought the boy’s father up, and he began to tlak to him. His dad honored his request to ask me to back away. I left the area but remained within earshot. I then called Jeane and told her we had located the young man. I asked her to call the police and also ask for a mental health professional to come with them.

Four of Claremore’s finest showed up in short order, and I flagged them down and filled them in on the situation. They went to the boy’s nest and began the process of getting him to give up his weapon, which we discovered he did have, and come out. It took a good long while of diligent work on their parts, and they did very well at it. I just stood back and stayed in the area because the young man was a pretty big guy, and I thought they might need the help.

As it began to grow duskier and duskier, I think we all realized something needed to happen before we were all stuck in the dark Oklahoma woods. As the officers kept talking to him, they finally got him to throw his weapon away from himself, and the four of them lunged to restrain him. He was able to run a short distance before they brought him down. In the midst of everything, I jumped on him, too, just to make sure they were able to get him restrained, so as not to hurt himself or us. They did get him handcuffed and on his feet and began to lead him out of the woods. I ran ahead to call for the paramedics, and I looked back just in time to see him escape from the police officers and set to running through the woods again, still in handcuffs.

I met the EMTs and filled them in, then headed back to where I could hear the officers. By that time, they had re-captured him and were marching him out of the woods. After getting him through two barbed-wire fences, he was loaded up for transport to the ER, where I hope he gets the attention he needs.

Jeane ran a command center of sorts out of our house, keeping everyone in the neighborhood in doors at the police’s instructions and relaying messages when I would call on the cell. She learned that this kind of behavior is very out of character for the young man, and I learned form his dad that he was recently prescibed a medication for depression. Obviously, he is not responding well to it. I am hopeful that they get him straightened out, and I am thankful that he did not harm himself or anyone else.

As for now, I am thristy, and I am headed for a bleach bath.

What do you do on your days off?