Lost boy used paddleboard to beat countless obstacles in blackwater, FL cops say

The search for a missing 7-year-old paddleboarder came to a surprising end when state wildlife officers discovered he overcame countless hazards to push 1.5 miles upstream, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says.

Greyson Hardy’s adventure also left him lost in wilderness that is home to alligators, copperheads and bear.

“His first words after being found? ‘Do you have any food?’” FWC Captain Keith Clark said in a news release.

Greyson was found around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 2, after vanishing earlier in the day while paddleboarding on Rocky Creek in the Panhandle, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office reports.

Rocky Creek is a tree-shrouded blackwater stream that winds through “pristine hardwood forests,” but it is notorious for having a fast current and an abundance of fallen trees to circumvent, according to Eglin Air Force Base.

The boy was reported missing by a family member, who last saw him Tuesday afternoon at the State Road 293 bridge east of the Bluewater Bay community, the sheriff’s office said.

The search eventually grew to include marine units and drones from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, and staff from multiple fire departments and Eglin Air Force Base. (The creek is on Eglin AFB reservation property.)

FWC didn’t reveal where Greyson was found, but it could only have been reached after the 70-pound boy navigated past “a challenging stretch of creek filled with submerged trees and other obstacles,” FWC officers reported.

Greyson was still paddling upstream when he “heard the voices of people calling his name,” officials said.

FWC officers reached him just two hours shy of sunset.

“He was taken to a local hospital for evaluation and is doing well,” the FWC said.

Photos released by FWC show he was retrieved by boat, with the paddleboard still by his side.

A June 3 FWC Facebook post announcing the boy’s recovery had more than 10,000 reactions and comments as of June 4, many lauding the FWC searchers for knowing the water obstacles would not have stopped an “adventurous” 7-year-old boy.

“I was numb the entire time. I tried not to imagine what his parents were experiencing,” Doris Foley wrote on the FWC Facebook page.

“I believe this child was well prepared for unexpected things to happen. He must have been taught how to stay safe until help comes. God Bless him and all those who searched for him,” Nancy Patrick Flanagan wrote on the FWC Facebook page.

Bluewater Bay is about a 75-mile drive east from Pensacola.

This story was originally published June 4, 2025 at 6:30 AM with the headline "Lost boy used paddleboard to beat countless obstacles in blackwater, FL cops say."