Scout kept his cool awaiting rescue Children stayed put when darkness fell

SEARSPORT — Robert O’Shea, 13, of Dedham, Mass., said Boy Scout training was the reason he kept his cool when he and his 9-year-old sister, Shauna, became stranded in the woods after dark Tuesday.

O’Shea said he never panicked when darkness descended as he and his sister and their dog were returning to their camp at Cain’s Pond, a few miles away.

O’Shea said that rather than attempt to hike out in the dark, he decided to stay put and spend the night in the woods if he had to.

Fortunately, the O’Sheas were rescued by Searsport police Officers James Gillway and Robert Mills after a search plane spotted the children’s lantern.

“I wasn’t expecting it to get dark so quick,” Robert said Wednesday morning. “Once it did, we just turned on the light and just stayed put.”

Although her brother managed to maintain his cool, Shauna O’Shea said she was “real glad” her big brother was around because, “he knew what he was doing. If it wasn’t for him, I probably would have fallen apart.”

The O’Sheas struck off from Cain’s Pond to McClure Pond at about 6 p.m. Tuesday. When they failed to return a few hours later, their mother, Gail O’Shea, called the police. The Maine Warden Service put a plane aloft and the missing children were spotted shortly after 11 p.m.

Shauna O’Shea’s decision to take a lantern along because she “gets afraid in the woods at night” turned out to be a wise one. Not only was the light visible from the air, but also the beam led Officers Gillway and Mills to where the O’Sheas were huddled on the shore of McClure Pond with their dog, Doogie.

Gillway said the dog was very protective of the two children and “almost bit a warden when we got out of the boat.”

As authorities searched, Gail O’Shea and her other daughter, Keri, who chose not to join her brother and sister on the walk, were comforted by friends Al and Mary Salvatore of Belfast.

The family shared a laugh after they were reunited when young Nick Salvatore joked that Robert and Shauna O’Shea were “flatlanders” for getting lost in the woods and Keri O’Shea was a “super flatlander” for not going with them.