Teen reunites with family after 2-day disappearance

The 19-year-old said he felt the need to retreat to the woods and pray.
JEROME, Pa. (AP) -- A teenager has been reunited with his family after spending two days in the woods reading the Bible, prompting a search by hundreds of volunteers.
Daniel Myers, 19, hiked eight to 10 miles from his family's home to the top of nearby Laurel Mountain before dawn Friday because he said he felt the need to read the Bible and pray.
The devout Mennonite was reunited with his family late Saturday after a passer-by saw him walking in the area, picked him up and called the family.
Myers' disappearance sparked a two-day search by about 75 local Mennonites, members of churches as far away as Maryland, and dozens of volunteers from 12 Somerset County fire departments.
Other searchers came from fire departments in neighboring Cambria County, and search-and-rescue teams from five counties and state aircraft also participated.
Didn't inform anyone
After being reunited with his family at their log home, Myers said he slipped away because he thought he would have been denied permission to go because of the heavy workload at his father's machine shop.
"I figured people wouldn't worry about me," he said.
While in the woods, Myers said, he slept under leaves to shield himself against the cold. He said he ate lichen from rocks and a sunfish caught with a fishing pole fashioned from a stick, string and a clip from his suspenders.
Myers said he read most of the Old Testament.
The teenager's father, Philip, said he was distraught after his son's disappearance, worrying that the young man might have been hurt in an accident.
He learned that his son, initially thought to have gone jogging or turkey hunting, was safe around 7:45 p.m. Saturday.
"I see the need for closer communication in our family," he said.
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