Missing 16-Year-Old Boy Found Alive After Trying to Do a 'Challenge' on Family Camping Trip

Mar. 15, 2025

Mikhael Nazorov.Photo:Yuba County Sheriff’s Department

Yuba County Sheriff’s Department

A boy who went missing while on a camping trip with his family in California was found alive, police said.

Mikhael Nozarov, 16, was last seen in the early evening of Tuesday, August 6, at Camp Far West Lake, theYuba County Sheriff’s Departmentsaid in a news release.

“The juvenile was camping at the lake with family when he and his older sister took a walk around the lake,” said the department. At some point, authorities said “the two got separated" and that he was last seen that day around 7:00 p.m. local time.

“His family immediately contacted the authorities, and the search was initiated,” authorities added.

The following day, the Yuba County Sheriff’s Department shared an update that Nazorov wasfound alive and well.

Per NBC affiliateKCRA, Nazorov was found 5 miles from where he was last seen.

PEOPLE reached out to the Yuba County Sheriff’s Department for additional information on Thursday, August 8.

As for what led to his disappearance, the teen told KCRA he “wanted to do a challenge where you have to walk to the other side” of the lake. However, when he got to the other side he “decided to walk around the whole lake, and that turned out bad.”

Additional details about what kind of challenge he was attempting were not publicly shared.

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“I had a feeling he was doing a challenge,” the boy’s mother, Lyudmila Nazorov, told the outlet, adding, “I’m so glad it turned out to be okay. I hope we’re done with challenges like this.”

In a Facebook reel,the Yuba County Sheriff’s Department wrote: “A huge thank you to the many agencies who assisted in our search. Fortunately, this story has a happy ending.”

source: people.com