(CNN) We may never know what Casey Hathaway was doing during the three days he was missing.

He was found on Thursday, cold but alive, in a mess of vines and thorns in Craven County, North Carolina.

But the 3-year-old has volunteered one noteworthy detail about those days in the woods: a bear kept him company.

"He made a comment about having a friend while he was in the woods -- his friend was a bear," Maj. David McFadyen with the Craven County Sheriff's Office told CNN Monday. "In the emergency room he started talking about what happened in the woods and he said he had a friend that was a bear with him while he was in the woods."

McFadyen said there are bears in the woods of Craven County, but there's no evidence to prove one was with Casey. All that matters, McFadyen said, is that something was there to comfort him during the three days.

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