Benjamín Sánchez – A 5 year old alone in the Argentinian wilderness

Time stranded: Under 24 hours

Distance traveled: 13 miles

Terrain types: Desert

Deaths: 0

Situation ended: Found by search team

Location: San Juan, Argentina

Benjamín Sánchez is a normal five-year-old who lives in western Argentina with his family. One day his mother took him to a remote semi-desert hill range for a hike, but during their day out a game of hide and seek led to Benjamin running a little too far and losing sight of his mother.

After being rescued he later told the Clarín newspaper “My mother was chasing me and I started to run, I could hear her at first but then I got lost. I leaned on a rock. I started to call her but she couldn’t hear me.”

Benjamin started to walk in what he thought was the right direction, while his mother frantically searched another area. The average temperatures in the region can easily touch 30C during the day, and drop down to freezing at night, making his situation all the worse since the only clothes he had on were a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

Not knowing what else to do he kept walking for a total distance of 13 miles, crossing an area that included swamps, hills, and thick undergrowth. To make matters worse the area is also home to a number of dangerous snakes and spiders, not to mention pumas that often hunt small game at night.

Benjamin said he drank from a small stream and ate some grass and a few leaves to stop his hunger. All the time he was walking his mother refused to leave the place she last saw him until he was found, and due to the publicity, there was an immediate search operation put in place of considerable size.

Within just a few hours of his going missing, the search team consisted of over 100 police and rescue professionals, a small fleet of drones, a helicopter, and over 300 volunteers who turned up on everything from quads and motorbikes to cycles and horses.

At 4 pm the day after he went missing, he was spotted by Alberto Ontiveros who was leading a team of 15 motorbikes. Benjamin was sitting next to a stream in the middle of thick undergrowth, but apart from being scared and a little thirsty was otherwise fine.

He was taken to the hospital by helicopter, after being persuaded to board it due to his fear of flying and was reunited with his mother.