KINGWOOD — A Rowlesburg man whose disappearance into the woods with his 5-year-old son in May launched a search for them has now been charged with child neglect.
According to a criminal complaint, Darren James Fullmer, 31, was high on drugs when he went into the woods off Snake Road in the Aurora area with the child. He was arraigned this week and freed on $10,000 bond.
According to a criminal complaint by Preston Sheriff’s Cpl. W.T. McNair, father and son were dropped off on Snake Road about 10 a.m. May 26 to go fishing. They were to be picked up at dark but didn’t return.
“A search party was organized and searched miles of mountainous terrain along with Trooper 5 flying a helicopter to attempt to find them,” according to the complaint. The search was called off at 2 a.m. May 27, “due to conditions being too dangerous for the search party members.”
Around 9:40 a.m. May 27, the pair was found walking out. The deputy said he spoke with one of the people who found them.
“She stated while searching they would yell and hear them but they would not come to them.” When found, the searcher said Fullmer told her he had been up for days on methamphetamine and two Subutex before entering the woods.
“She stated [Fullmer] said he was tripping out all night and could hear things but did not know what they were. She stated he told her Big Foot had waved at them and bears paraded for his son to keep him calm.”
Fullmer told the searcher they slept under a skid steer, according to the complaint.
“When getting out of the woods they told Mr. Fullmer that they needed to see them so they could confirm they had been found, [and] he hid himself and his son and shook a tree.”
Blood work done on Fullmer at the hospital after they were found was sent to the State Police Crime Lab for analysis. It showed he had amphetamine, methamphetamine and THC in his system, according to the complaint.
“With the landscape of the area, the darkness, the state of mind and illegal substances in Mr. Fullmer, his son could easily have been hurt or killed in this time frame,” Cpl. McNair wrote in the complaint.
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