Crews examine Indiana dune at Mount Baldy where boy was trapped

August 12, 2013 ( MICHIGAN CITY, Ind.) -- Federal officials were examining a northern Indiana sand dune that collapsed last month, burying a 6-year-old Illinois boy under 11 feet of sand for more than three hours.

The National Park Service and the Environmental Protection Agency were using ground-sensing equipment starting Monday to investigate Mount Baldy, a 43-acre sand dune at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

Environmental Protection Agency spokesman Francisco Arcaute says the device employed Monday in the inspection at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is usually used to search underground at hazard waste sites.

Park ranger Bruce Rowe says the crew could be at the site for at least two days and that Mount Baldy will remain closed until the National Park Service considers the dune safe.

That section of the park has been closed to the public since July 12 when Nathan Woessner, of Sterling, Ill., disappeared into the dune. Emergency crews dug for hours to rescue the child, who was put in a medically induced coma after the incident. He was allowed to return home two weeks later.

Geologists theorize that a tree trunk decomposed under the dune, creating the void that swallowed Nathan.

Nathan was released last month from La Rabida Children's Hospital. Doctors said he underwent physical, occupational and speech therapy. He's scheduled to return for more rehabilitation.

Last Monday, the Michigan City Fire Department honored firefighters involved in the rescue.

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