Two Douglas County teenagers who failed to return home after school were found safe when they knocked on a door early Thursday morning.
Edward Belivieau and Christopher Heath were riding the late bus home Wednesday afternoon from Carson Valley Middle School when they decided they could get home faster by walking.
They got off the bus at East Valley Road and Stephanie Way, five miles from their home in Indian Hills as the crow flies.
According to Lt. Mike Biaggini of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, Edward, 14, and Christopher, 13, got off the bus about 4 p.m.
Their families became concerned when the boys hadn't arrived home.
"We were scared to death," Edward's father, Edward Belivieau Sr., said. "They were riding the bus and it was taking them all around, through Johnson Lane and Genoa. They figured they could beat the bus home by walking."
Biaggini said the boys became lost while making their way across northern Douglas County.
"They were pretty cold and wet," Biaggini said. "They had been in and out of the Carson River."
Edward's father agreed the boys walked a long way.
"They got disoriented," he said. "They must have walked about 20 miles. They had been through the swamps."
Search and Rescue crews were called out Wednesday night and continued searching until the boys turned up at a home on Heybourne Road.
According to Biaggini, searchers were concerned that the boys might have become mired along the river.
"The kids contacted the residents of a home on Heybourne," Biaggini said. "They just went up and knocked on these peoples' door and asked if someone could take them home."
East Fork Paramedics were called in to check the boys condition, but they got a clean bill of health.
"They were just cold, wet and tired," Biaggini said. "Other than that they were OK."
Edward's father said his son caught cold, but is otherwise fine.
He says Edward learned a valuable lesson to stay on the bus.
"It won't happen again," he said. "It was as scary for him as it was for us."
The late bus from Carson Valley Middle School is for children involved in special activities and travels all over northern Douglas County. There are only two middle schools in Carson Valley with students from Indian Hills and Johnson Lane attending school in Gardnerville. Students from the southern part of the county attend school at Pau-Wa-Lu Middle School in the Gardnerville Ranchos.