Searchers are briefed before heading out

MONGAUP VALLEY – It was a tense two days for Eduard Katanov and Svetlana Niktalova of Forest Hills, Queens when their not quite four-year-old son, Daniel Niktalova, walked away from the Swinging Bridge Campground where their family vacationed during the summer months.

A massive search for the boy, who will celebrate his fourth birthday in July, was launched when he disappeared on Saturday morning.

Search parties scoured the deep woods and the area around Swinging Bridge Reservoir until dark Saturday. They resumed their search at 8 a.m. on Sunday and just after 11 a.m., a search led by Liberty Fireman Harry Rampe reported they had found the missing child sitting under a rock ledge about a half mile east of the campground in the heavily wooded area.

Daniel had a slight bump on his head, but was in otherwise excellent condition, police reported.

He was brought out of the woods onto Starlight Road where he was transported by state forest rangers to the command post at Three Friends Farm. Daniel was reunited with his parents and then taken by ambulance to Catskill Regional Medical Center in Harris as a precaution.

Daniel is one of three children of the Katanov family. “This is every parent’s nightmare,” said Sullivan County Sheriff Michael Schiff, a father of four. “The fact that this incident had such a happy ending is a testament to the quality of our volunteer firefighters, law enforcement officers, and other rescue workers who gave up their own time on this holiday weekend away from their families,” he said.

The Sheriff’s Office was the lead agency. Some 140 people were involved in the search for young Daniel. Participating organizations included the State Police, FBI, Monticello and Rock Hill fire departments, state Department of Environmental Conservation forest rangers and police, Sullivan County Wild Land Search and Rescue Team, Sullivan Bureau of Fire and Sullivan Dive Team, Westchester County Police bloodhounds, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Swinging Bridge Reservoir owner Alliance Energy, New York State Search Federation, Eagle Valley Search and Resue Team, and Ramapo Canine Rescue Team.