EASTHAM – Early this morning, Wednesday, August 12, 2026, at approximately 1:10 AM, the Eastham Police Department Received a report of a missing 17-year-old male from a residence in the area of Boat Meadow Beach. The 17-year-old had left the residence several hours prior to the report being made and had not returned home. Eastham Police and Eastham Fire Department assets were dispatched to the residence and to the surrounding area to search for the missing party. Additionally, due to the length of time that the individual had been missing, the close proximity to the water and marsh area, and the individuals unfamiliarity with the area, additional assets were activated including the Fire Department Barnstable County Technical Rescue Team, the Cape Cod Regional Law Enforcement Council Search Team, Massachusetts State Police Air Wing and K9 units, Coast Guard helicopter, along with additional personnel and assets from Eastham Police and Fire Departments. The Eastham Police Department drone was also rapidly deployed in the area.
A command post consisting of command staff from the Eastham Police and Fire Departments, along with command staff from the regional specialty units, was set up in the Boat Meadow Beach parking area and later moved to the parking lot at the Orleans District Court House. From those locations, search assets were deployed beginning close to the originating residence, and then in an increasingly wide area outward. Given the relatively close access to the Cape Cod Rail Trail, UTVs from the Barnstable County Technical Rescue Team were deployed to search the trail, both in north and south direction. At approximately 4:00 AM, the individual was located by members of the Barnstable County Technical Rescue Team on the rail trail near the intersection of Samoset Road. The juvenile was in good health and was transported by UTV back to the Orleans District Court House and reunited with family.
Chief Bohannon and Chief Albino would like to thank our Eastham Public Safety Staff, telecommunicators, and our neighboring and regional partners for their rapid, professional, and thorough work which brought a successful end to this incident.
