On Thursday, October 24, at approximately 11:10 a.m. the Knox County Sheriff’s office received a 911 call from a local farmer, indicating that he believe he had found Holden Duncan, who had been missing for the better part of three days, approximately five miles north of Crofton.
Upon investigation, and a sandwich from the farmer later, the call was proven true, and Duncan was taken into protective custody, given a medical review and then returned to his parents – safe and unharmed after three days missing.
Duncan’s parents had reported him missing in the evening of Monday, Oct. 21.
Sheriff Don Henery, via press release, said “The Knox County Sheriff office would like to thank everybody that participated in the search over the days and will release as accurate a list of who all participated as we can later this week or first part of next week. As I’m sure the family would agree, the main thing is Holden was found, is safe, and going home.”
It wasn’t until Tuesday evening that the first official release came from the Knox County Sheriff’s Office other than from the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, and it wasn’t until Wednesday around 1:30 p.m. that the Nebraska State Patrol activated an Endangered Missing Alert, which then prompted more frequent updates. The EMA was cancelled near 24 hours after it was activated, after Duncan was found.
With the search taking place in the early morning, light of day and into the night over the three days – there were helicopters, drones, vehicles, people walking and even dogs assisting in the search, and on the third day – the family requested a “quiet day” to see if Duncan would return home.
That morning, the farmer reported Duncan had been found.
Volunteers, official agencies and more poured into Crofton early in the search, responding to calls for assistance, and a makeshift headquarters was set up at the Crofton Fire Department in downtown Crofton where law enforcement and volunteers coordinated.
A long list of donations were received by the group including food, drinks and supplies to keep their energy up while searching.
A provided list of departments that were reported to help included:
Fire Departments from Crofton, Fordyce, Hartington, Bloomfield, Lindy, Niobrara, Verdigre and Pierce; Yankton Search and Rescue, Norfolk Fire, Santee, Nebraska Game and Parks, Nebraska State Patrol, Dixon County Sheriff and K9 Unit, Yankton Police Department, Civil Air Patrol, Crofton EMS – all bringing volunteers and equipment to help. The Sheriff’s office had reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigations had also responded and assisted with the process.