Missing Family Survived on Halloween Candy, Rain Water

A missing family was found Thursday after two days trapped in their car, surviving on Halloween candy and rain water, KING reports. According to the AP, authorities had been searching rural Washington state for Jason and Melissa McAlister and their two young children, ages 8 months and 2 years. The McAlisters were reported missing Tuesday night after they failed to pick their older children up from the school bus. Their landlord told authorities that Jason had talked about going for a family drive when he saw him Tuesday morning. "They are just very dependable," Melissa's aunt told KIRO prior to the family's discovery. "That's why we are terrified that something's happened."

The McAlisters were spotted Thursday by a hunter, who called 911. Jason says the family was driving along a logging road Tuesday when they tried to go around a fallen tree and got stuck. They slept in the car Tuesday night then tried to walk to safety on Wednesday but got lost and returned to the car for the night, listening to news of search efforts on the radio while eating Halloween candy. The hunter saw them as they tried again to walk to safety on Thursday, called 911, and drove them to meet authorities at a general store. A sheriff says the family "appears to be OK" and is in "good health" despite dehydration and mild hypothermia. (More missing person stories.)