Maybe they did this, but my question is why didn't the pigs get in their chopper fitted out with all of the thermal detection gear on the first night he went missing, tell everyone to refrain from searching that night and stay indoors while they searched the whole area and forest which would have determined whether he was in the vicinity to mount a rescue op (or to confirm he was not exposed to the elements and probably been kidnapped)? That chopper and its technology pays for itself in crop busts, the least they could have done was actually use it for a public service instead of the usual revenue raising. It's been so cold that William would have stood out like the proverbial, even if the poor little mite had curled into a ball under thick, metre high growth.

Someone may have said it earlier but I'd like to hope he's stumbled across a recluse's shack and the recluse is so recluse that while he/she/they take good care of William, the searchers will have to find them because he/she/they wouldn't voluntarily reenter society even if it's to get W safely back to his parents. It's a fantasy, but it's the only situation I can find plausible for W to be able to return safe, unharmed and alive so long after his disappearance.