I too am greatly saddened by the loss of this boy, I can think of little that is more terrible than this. My heart goes out to this child, his family, his unit and his friends.
The buddy system is all important and this story is so moving that it will be a topic for one of our unit meetings. I have significant wilderness experience / training both BSA and non BSA, so I can give a lot of advice even for adults.
Even adults should have a buddy when traveling in the wilderness, and particularly when traveling in the back country a minimum of four to six adults should be present. Wildern