An 18-year-old Canadian who missed his connecting flight in Atlanta and somehow ended up in the woods near Macon, has been reunited with his mother and is now back home in Canada, according to police.
Sgt. Sean Defoe with the Bibb County Sheriff's Office told the AJC that Eustace Victor Martin was picked up at the sheriff’s department by a relative about 9 p.m. Friday.
The relative, who lives in Georgia, brought Martin to the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Martin’s mother later arrived at the airport to meet her son who had been reported missing May 28. The two then took the first flight back to Canada.
Martin’s ordeal started several days ago when, instead of boarding a plane, he apparently left Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and took a bus from Atlanta to Macon, according to Defoe.
Martin told deputies he initially tried to sleep on benches near the airport, but was told by security personnel he could not stay there. He then boarded a Groome Transportation van and traveled southbound on I-75 to Macon. There, he left the bus station and wandered into nearby woods, where he spent several days.
While in the woods, Martin lived only on water. He had a travel bag with him, Defoe said.
Martin was flying from St. Kitts in the Caribbean to Vancouver, Canada, and made it to Atlanta, where he was supposed to change planes for a Saturday night (May 28) night flight to Seattle. But he never got on the second flight, and a search was launched to find the teen.
Early Friday, the teen knocked on the door of a home on nearby Sheraton Drive to ask for food and water, Defoe said.
“His mom arrived and they flew right back to Canada,” said Defoe. “It was kind of an unusual case but the good thing is he was found in time and it was a happy ending.”
Defoe said Martin seemed “ready to go home.” He said Martin “seemed like a bright young man. I don’t know what caused him to get on that van.”
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