Boy tells his harrowing tale
Sunday, October 23, 2005
BY JONATHAN CASIANO
Star-Ledger Staff
After spending two days crouched under a deck with no food and only a garden hose for water, 10-year-old Manny Vargas has a message for any other kids thinking about running away from home.
"Don't do it. I almost died. Don't even try it," said Manny. "You wouldn't last one day."
It's a lesson that's become increasingly real to the Sayreville fifth-grader over the past three days as he's started to realize how close he came to not surviving the ordeal himself.
When rescuers found him under a neighbor's deck Wednesday night, Manny was unconscious, passed out from a combination of hunger and exhaustion. He had been missing since Monday evening, when he climbed out of a first-floor window and took off with no food, no jacket and no idea where he was going.
Yesterday, Manny joined his parents at the family's kitchen table, his hands politely folded on top of the floral tablecloth, to share the story, a dramatic search-and-rescue tale that still gives his mother the shivers.
"Every hour that went by, I can't even explain what it felt like ... I don't wish this on anybody ever," Dawn Vargas said of her only child. "I see these things on TV, and I always feel for the people, but when you have to go through it yourself it's a whole different feeling."
"It" all started with a progress report issued earlier this month, a report Manny stashed under his desk in a classic example of fifth-grade subterfuge. His parents found out about the report anyway, though, and Manny came clean about the missing homework assignments he'd been trying to hide. Rewarding him for his honesty, Manny's father told him to bring the report home and not to worry about facing any punishment.
But when the actual report reached the Vargas household on Monday, there were more missing assignments than Manny had disclosed. His mother called his father, Manuel, at work, and punishment for his deceit was meted out -- no video games and no television.
Dawn Vargas then went to e-mail Manny's teachers, while Manny went upstairs to catch up on his work.
Less than two hours later, Manny was gone, leaving his homework half done on his desk and a red shirt in the backyard. Because of where the shirt was dropped, his parents immediately knew he had left through the window.
For two days, neither parent slept. They searched the woods and railroad tracks, scouring areas even after they were ruled out by police.
"I must've covered every square mile of Sayreville. I might need a truck after this," said Manuel Vargas.
As the days wore on, more authorities joined the search, sending helicopters into the sky while officers patrolled the ground on horses and ATVs. K-9 units were brought in to try to pick up Manny's trail.
From the beginning, the Vargases had ruled out a kidnapping, but as lead after lead came up cold, Dawn Vargas started having other ideas. Manuel Vargas maintained his belief that Manny was just hiding out somewhere, but he worried about the cold nights and lack of food.
"We knew time was of the essence because it was getting cold outside. How long could a kid survive without food and water?" asked Manuel Vargas. "We knew we had to find him."
Meanwhile, Manny sat under the deck, oblivious to the frantic authorities searching all around him. On Tuesday, the home's owner walked past the deck with the trash, but Manny stayed silent and the homeowner went back inside, clueless that the little boy causing such a stir was camped out just a few feet away.
At first, Manny said it was like one of the military adventures he plays out in his basement with tanks and toy soldiers. When he got thirsty, he drank from a nearby garden hose. When it got dark, he grabbed a battery-operated lantern from on top of the deck. When the temperatures dropped at night, he piled on the extra clothes he had brought.
"He didn't want to be punished and figured if he stayed out there long enough and we missed him that much, we wouldn't discipline him." said Manuel Vargas. "He had everything planned out."
But it was hard to sleep under the deck, and the centipedes crawling around on the ground were giving him the willies. Manny was also in desperate need of a meal.
Bored and hungry, Manny made up his mind that Thursday would be his last day on the run. But before he could walk the few hundred feet back home, he passed out, succumbing to hunger and sleep deprivation.
Manny still doesn't know how long he was unconscious, but his parents say it couldn't have been too long because the boy woke right up when a rescue dog named Lara found him and started licking his face. He drifted in and out of consciousness as he was whisked to Raritan Bay Medical Center, but two days of tests turned up nothing more than slight dehydration and a crusty scratch on his forehead from bumping into the deck.
Yesterday, the Vargas family thanked the hundreds of neighbors and rescue workers who joined in the search, while Manny caught up on his video games. For his first meal, he chowed down on Taco Bell, polishing off two Gordita Crunches and a Mexican pizza.
As for the punishment he was trying to escape, Manuel Vargas admitted that Manny got his wish.
"He'll never be punished again," his grateful father said. "I told him he can bring home as many progress reports as he wants. He doesn't have to worry about that."