Have Grandson, Will Campaign
A Louisiana politician is ready to go back to the congressional campaign trail Thursday after abandoning it this week to search for his missing grandson.
Former Louisiana Gov. Dave Treen is in a runoff election for the House seat vacated by Robert Livingston.
TreenÂ's 20-year-old grandson Jason Neville vanished hiking in Oregon last week. He was spotted from a news helicopter by CBS affiliate KOIN-TV.
"I was totally lost," Neville said later. "I had no idea where I was. I didnÂ't know if I was close enough for anybody to look for me where I was."
Neville said he survived by eating snow.
"Jason's safety and life is more important to me than any elective office I ever held, ever will hold," Treen said.
Mike Ferris of the U.S. Forest Service took them along the trail Jason had been hiking, reports CBS News Correspondent John Blackstone.
Searchers had already covered the trail from one end to the other. There was a fear the 20-year-old had fallen down a cliff, perhaps even drowned.
Treen said he was only trying to keep his daughter's spirits up when he predicted Wednesday morning that Jason would be found. "I have a hunch today will be the day," he said.
It was only minutes later that a news helicopter spotted someone in the wilderness. Neville was seen frantically waving metal pans to bring attention to himself.
He appeared to have set up a camp with a blue tarp and tent and tended to a nearby fire. Neville was seen drinking from a canteen, wearing a white T-shirt and khaki pants.
The lost hiker's mother looked at the pictures coming back and confirmed that it was her son. "It's like a roller coaster. Your stomach does a flip. It was the most beautiful picture I've ever seen in my life," Jennifer Neville said.
A student at Louisiana State University, Neville had taken time off from college to work for AmeriCorps, the domestic equivalent of the Peace Corps, teaching poor children in Portland to read.
He set out alone the evening of May 20 on the Eagle Creek trail, one of Oregon's most popular hiking routes, near the river town of Cascade Locks, about 40 miles east of Portland. Officials said he wanted to be by himself in the wilderness when he turned 20 at midnight Friday.
Treen said the days-long ordeal has left him a changed man. "It has made me more appreciative of the fundamentals of life. And that's your family," he said.