Missing 13-year-old may be living as a survivalist for the past month, police say

After a month of searching, a 13-year-old boy from south-central Wisconsin is still missing, and authorities believe he may be attempting to live off the grid in the nearby Devil's Lake State Park.

James Yoblonski's family first reported the boy missing on June 12, stating the family vehicle was missing. The car was later recovered on U.S. Highway 12, according to the Sauk County Sheriff's Office. The boy's family has told officials that a handgun in the home is also missing.

"My son is not a danger to anybody else or himself," Bill Yoblonski said in a Facebook post. "I just want him home."

Sauk County Lieutenant Steven Schram told ABC affiliate WKOW Yoblonski had expressed interest in being a survivalist.

"Without being able to add context to it, it's difficult to do anything besides make assumptions," he told the outlet. "The only person at this point that could truly tell us without any shred of doubt would be James."

"By no means are we giving up the search for James, we're just trying to get as much information as possible and tracking down every single piece of information that comes in to prove whether it's relevant," Schram explained. "We can't rule anything out until we can absolutely rule it out."

Timeline of James going missing, search efforts

It's been a month since the teen was first reported missing. Here's everything that has happened since then.

• June 12: The Yoblonski family reported James missing. Authorities found the family car on the side of U.S. Highway 12, near Devil's Lake State Park. Later, the family also reported a handgun in the home was gone.

• June 17: Local law enforcement found several makeshift campsites and some clothing believed to belong to Yoblonski, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. It was then officials believed Yoblonski is trying to live off the grid as a survivalist. The outlet also reported that two officers had been sent to the hospital for injuries resulting from trying to navigate the Baraboo Bluffs while looking for Yoblonski.

• June 25: Bill Yoblonski, the father of James Yoblonski, organized a search effort via Facebook.

• June 26: Sauk County Sherriff Chip Meister reported police were focusing energy on patrol searches, rather than ground searches.

• July 7: The Sherriff's office released an update that the investigation is still "active" and they are still investigating areas of interest near where Yoblonski went missing.

Sauk County Sheriff's Office is asking anyone with information about Yoblonski to call 608-355-4495.

What are conditions like in Devil's Lake State Park?

Located in Baraboo, Wisconsin, Devil's Lake attracted nearly 3 million annual visitors making it the most popular state park in Wisconsin, according to the park's website. It sits on over 10,000 acres and is part of over 27,000 acres of public recreational land in Sauk County.

The park is home to an array of wildlife, including rattlesnakes, coyotes, and bobcats. There have been rare sightings of bears, cougars and wolves. However, the park website said that the bulk of emergency calls come from those underprepared, usually people dealing with overexertion, water-related injuries and getting lost or stranded.

Connection to an open missing persons case

James Yoblonski, who went missing June 12, is a great-nephew of Andy Wegner, who is married to Laurie Depies' mother Mary Wegner.

Laurie Depies of Appleton, disappeared from outside her boyfriend's apartment complex at age 20 on Aug. 19, 1992. Despite an investigation spanning decades, her case remains open.

For Mary, hearing of Yoblonski's disappearance resurfaced many of the same feelings Laurie's did: "Fear, anxiousness, sick to my stomach and a thought of 'no, not again,'" she said

Even though the search turned up no sign of the boy, Mary said it "was rewarding in that we got a chance to actually help and participate in a fashion."

For her part, she believes something happened to James out in the woods after two weeks missing.

"He might be crafty and have survivalist guides and skills, but he is only 13," she said. "Never did I ever think Laurie would disappear in 1992, but she's been gone 31 years."

Their families only interacted once a year, Mary said, but she remembered James as "a scamp and a rabble-rouser" who loved playing pranks when he was younger.

Contributing: Beck Andrew Salgado, Milwaukee Journal Sentinal

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Wisconsin 13-year-old James Yoblonski still missing after a month