8-year-old boy searching for food and water gets stuck in chimney

A boy searching for food and water got stuck in a chimney at a home in Utah. Richard and Sandy Draper saidthey were returning to their West Valley City home from dinner at around 7:30 p.m. on Friday when they heard someone yelling.



The couple originally thought the yelling was children playing in the backyard, but discovered that the noise was coming from 8-year-old Stephen Hopkins, who was stuck in their chimney. "I could hear a voice in my chimney and I said, 'Are you in the chimney?'" said Sandy Draper. A wall had to be ripped out of the home to let Hopkins out.

"Through a noble effort of about an hour of cutting our house up ... they were able to retrieve the child and overall everything was successful," said Richard Draper. "He was black, just covered in soot but actually looked pretty well."


Video link.

West Valley City police say Hopkins had been reported missing by his mother earlier in the day after he left his home and didn't return. "They asked him why he had gone down the chimney and he said he was looking for food and water so evidently he was wandering the neighbourhood," said Richard Draper.

Includes video interview with young Mr Hopkins.