US hostage lost in Philippine jungle for 2 days

MANILA, Philippines –A kidnapped American boy who escaped from suspected Muslim militants wandered without shoes for two days in a Philippine jungle before villagers found him, officials said.

Police Senior Superintendent Edwin de Ocampo said Sunday that 14-year-old Kevin Lunsmann told his kidnappers that he would take a bath in a stream and then ran away after five months of captivity on Basilan Island.

The boy, who was barefoot, followed a river and ran away when he saw villagers, who eventually assured him that they were friends.

De Ocampo said the boy is fine except for bruises on his legs and arms.

The boy’s Filipino-American mother, Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann, was freed two months ago and a Filipino cousin escaped from their captors last month.