Four Children Lost in Blizzard During Snowmobile Ride Rescued a Day Later Suffering Severe Hypothermia

Four children, including a 2-year-old boy, who went missing in blizzard conditions in Alaska have been found alive and are being treated for severe hypothermia.

Rescue teams started looking for Christopher Johnson, 14, Frank Johnson, 8, Ethan Camille, 7, and 2-year-old Trey Camille when they didn't return from a snowmobile ride in Nunum Iqua on Sunday.

Alaska State Troopers said the four children were found at around 4.30 p.m. local time on Monday around 18 miles south of Nunum Iqua. The children had managed to locate a shelter in the area, KTUU reported.

According to the station, a member of the rescue team said the children were "cold, hungry and tired," but otherwise thought to be unharmed. Troopers later said all four children were all being treated for severe hypothermia. A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter flew the children to hospital.

Trey Camille's father Alphonso Thomas, who lives in Anchorage, Alaska, told the station that he was overjoyed to learn his son had been found.

"It immediately brought me to tears. I never would have thought that he would make it. Being two and with weather like that, people usually don't make it... tough kids, all of them," he said.

The children had been expected to return to Nunum Iqua at around 1 p.m. on Sunday. Alaska State Troopers said local search and rescue teams were out looking for the children, but State Troopers were alerted when they had still not been found by around 6.30 p.m.

A massive search was launched involving helicopters from the Army National Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard when they had not returned by 6.30 p.m. on Sunday. Troopers said reduced visibility from blizzard conditions had hampered the search efforts.

Karen Camille, who is the mother of three of the boys, with one being her brother, told KTUU that the children had gone out for what was supposed to be a short ride. But when they didn't return and the weather worsened, she called for someone to go search for them.

"It became an hour and the weather started being bad, and that's when we called for someone to go out and look," she told the station.

One snowmobile went out to search for the children, then the search got bigger. She said the search lasted until 2 a.m. on Monday and then resumed again after dawn.

Nunum Iqua is around 500 miles from Anchorage and has a population of 187, according to the 2010 census.