JEROME — Just before daybreak Friday, Daniel Myers set off through the woods, carrying only his Bible.
Worried about the busy workload at his father’s machine shop, the devout 19-year-old Mennonite didn’t tell his family about his intentions to immerse himself in Scripture.
Instead, he walked an estimated eight miles to the top of Laurel Mountain, slipping into solitude to read most of the Old Testament through Ezekiel.
He slept beneath a cover of leaves to shield himself from the cold and ate lichen from rocks and a sun-dried sunfish caught with a clip from his suspenders, a piece of string, a stick and a scrap of handkerchief for bait.
All the while, hundreds of volunteers spent two days looking for him, scouring the rolling hills, pastures and dangerous coal pits surrounding the family homestead just outside of Jerome.
Myers was reunited with his family late Saturday night, after a passer-by familiar with the situation noticed him walking on Laurel Mountain, took him to his home and called his family.
“I just felt the need to read the Bible and pray,” Daniel Myers said, surrounded by relatives inside their log home. “I knew we had a lot of work to do, and I didn’t think I could go if I would tell anybody.
“I figured people wouldn’t worry about me,” he continued, his face chapped from the sun and wind.
For two days, church brethren and volunteers futilely searched for Myers.
An estimated 75 members of Somerset Mennonite Fellowship and churches as far away as Maryland joined dozens of volunteers Saturday from 12 Somerset County fire departments, four from neighboring Cambria, search-and-rescue teams from five counties and aircraft from the state Civil Air Patrol and Attorney General.
Philip Myers – distraught that his son may have been in an accident or worse – received the news that Daniel was safe around 7:45 p.m.
“We learned many spiritual lessons,” he said. “I see the need for closer communication in our family.
“He didn’t have a really wrong motive in going, but he didn’t think about the consequences of not communicating effectively.”
Daniel Myers’ older brothers and sisters were overjoyed. “Praise God,” his young nephew said.
“I’m so happy that he is safe and sound, and he’s not hurt,” said his sister, Hannah.
“I feel like the Lord had a purpose in allowing this, and that purpose can be accomplished.”
Throughout the search, 27-year-old Simon Myers said he couldn’t escape thoughts of a conversation he had with his brother a while ago.
“He told me he wanted to take some time away to read the Bible,” Simon Myers said. “That was going through my head.”
Daniel Myers said he walked about eight to 10 miles over back roads, heading toward the mountaintop. He said he went only with the clothes on his back, as Jesus commanded his disciples.
Sleeping beneath the stars isn’t uncommon for Daniel, said his sister, Joanne.
“It’s fresh air. I can speak for him,” Simon added.
Daniel Myers was believed to have gone out for an early morning jog or to scout turkeys Friday. He wore his hunting boots and floppy fishing hat, but didn’t take a flashlight.
When he failed to come home for 6:30 a.m. devotionals, his family became concerned.
Just before he was found, his father said the family was prepared for the worst.
“We committed him to the Lord,” Philip Myers said. “If it’s God’s will to take him home, we’re resigned to that.
“But the suspense of not knowing is surely trying.”
Firefighters from Jerome, Ideal, Conemaugh Township, Hollsopple, Stoystown, Boswell, Sipesville, Acosta, Scalp Level, Somerset, Shanksville, Berlin, Ferndale, Lower Yoder Township, Middle Taylor Township and West Hills participated in the search.
They were accompanied by search-and-rescue teams from Somerset, Westmoreland, Bedford and Indiana counties, as well as the Pittsburgh area. Planes from the Civil Air Patrol and state Attorney General’s Office flew over Conemaugh and Jenner townships.
State police and Conemaugh Township officers also assisted.
Searchers canvassed the entire family farm and surrounding hills, looking in culverts and thickets, silos and abandoned coal pits.
“We feel we’ve covered all of the likely areas,” Lynn Diller, pastor of Somerset Mennonite Fellowship, said about an hour before Myers was located.
The search was called off around 6 p.m. Saturday and the case was turned over to state police as a missing person.
Diller described Daniel Myers as “right with the Lord,” always placing others ahead of himself. Last Sunday, he gave his closest friend a prayer request for someone else he was concerned about.
Perhaps Myers’ only inscription in his 2006 pocket calendar was a portent:
“4-27-06,” he wrote in pencil.
“Lord, you know my heart. Help me to be in your will at this time. Help me to read and understand your word. Thank you for your word and for other faithful Christians.”
Kirk Swauger can be reached at 445-5103 or kswauger@tribdem.com.
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