# Lost Utah Kid Was an Idiot **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 22, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435 "2005-06-22T20:52:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/41 "2005-06-23T00:17:32Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > I’ve got this kid pegged for a great career in the civil service. Rigid adherence to previously laid out guidlines without comprehension of their reason for being or spirit. Yup. He’ll go far. And then he’ll get lost. 😃 I think **WhyNot** has it right. This kid does sound awfully immature for 11. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/42 "2005-06-23T00:22:04Z")
Smart kid! Jump off a bridge heh heh. I bet that was good for a laugh 😃 I don’t see how this other kid got lost, if he was still on a trail, and why he avoided anyone who could have simply pointed down the trail for him. He sounds pretty stupid. But, at least he is OK. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/43 "2005-06-23T00:30:41Z")
The kid is a genius. He did this on purpose. Now he’ll have someone “Ghostwrite” his story, appear on bad day-time TV, make enough money that he’ll never have to work a day in his life. Ever! Thats it! I’m throwing my kid down a well. Right after the mattress, and a cooler of food and drink! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/44 "2005-06-23T00:37:19Z")
> [@Pullet](#): > > I am a bit surprised that he kept [his evasive behaviour] up for so long. Wasn’t he missing for days? [This](http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/breaking_news/11959926.htm) sheds a bit of light on that: > [@](#): > > Brennan’s mother said he believes he was gone only one or two nights, and doesn’t remember even going camping or much else, because “most of it was a blur to him.” How they can square that with “a little slow, but not mentally disabled” is a little hard to fathom. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/45 "2005-06-23T00:44:25Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > How they can square that with “a little slow, but not mentally disabled” is a little hard to fathom. Frankly, after about 36 hours of no food, water, or company I’d expect a kid to be bit cognitively impaired. And it would only get worse after that, with retrograde amnesia to be expected. Maybe this kid is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I’d say cut him a little slack. This “diagnosis from a distance” is distasteful, whether it’s done by Senator Frist or by internet denizens. ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Norder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@Dan\_Norder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Norder)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/46 "2005-06-23T00:46:45Z")
How about we hit this kid’s family up to reimburse all the vehicles and people and so forth off looking for the idiot after he started hiding from his rescuers? And if he was so brilliant to come up with the plan in the first place, he should have stuck to it and hidden himself under a fallen log and covered himself up with brush so no rescuers ever found him. Then he could have used a knife to scratch a message onto the tree trunk saying: “I did what you said Mom and hid from all the strangers calling out my name. I’m hungry.” That way the dogs could eventually find the body days later and Darwin would have actually kicked in. ---
**Author:** ![elfbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b782af/32.png) [@elfbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfbabe)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/47 "2005-06-23T01:25:30Z")
I really, really hope that this erroneous judgement on the kid’s part was due to something easily explainable, like a mental impairment or ridiculously overprotective parents. … because MAN that was a dumb thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/48 "2005-06-23T01:30:48Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Maybe this kid is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I’d say cut him a little slack. This “diagnosis from a distance” is distasteful, whether it’s done by Senator Frist or by internet denizens. Seconded. Having been involved with some S&Rs lost people, even adults, don’t necessarily behave rationally after they’ve become disoriented. The attacks on this kid are pretty ugly. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/49 "2005-06-23T01:32:35Z")
I can only speak for myself, but I’m criticizing the parents. As I said in an earlier post, they’re basically saying to the whole world, “We coddle our kid and treat him like an inferior.” And if they do do that, it’s no wonder this happened. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/50 "2005-06-23T01:45:04Z")
I’m wondering, if his parents always considered him inferior, maybe he pulled this stunt on purpose, and ignored the rescuers, not because he “couldn’t talk to strangers”, but because he WANTED to make his parents worry? ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/51 "2005-06-23T01:51:02Z")
> [@shelbo\[sub](#): > > OK, now I read the next part, where the mom says, “His biggest fear, he told me, was someone would steal him.” ] And who, do you think, would have instilled in his mind a such irrationnal fear? Could it be his parents??? ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/52 "2005-06-23T02:15:44Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > I can only speak for myself, but I’m criticizing the parents. As I said in an earlier post, they’re basically saying to the whole world, “We coddle our kid and treat him like an inferior.” And if they do do that, it’s no wonder this happened. Agreed; I’d say it’s the parents here who are idiots. ---
**Author:** ![JimSox5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5a626/32.png) [@JimSox5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimSox5)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/53 "2005-06-23T02:16:53Z")
I wasn’t trying to attack him. And I never claimed to know anything. I was just trying to say with how the kid looked, how he carried himself, and how the parents talked to him and all, it just all struck me as very strange. I’ve been around many mentally disabled kids, and what I would call “socially disabled” kids. In my snap and very non-expert judgement, I would put him in the disabled group. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/54 "2005-06-23T06:06:51Z")
> [@JimSox5](#): > > I wasn’t trying to attack him. And I never claimed to know anything. I was just trying to say with how the kid looked, how he carried himself, and how the parents talked to him and all, it just all struck me as very strange. I’ve been around many mentally disabled kids, and what I would call “socially disabled” kids. In my snap and very non-expert judgement, I would put him in the disabled group. is that both disabled groups? sounds like a combination of dumb kid+ dumb parents to me. ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Norder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@Dan\_Norder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Norder)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/55 "2005-06-23T07:37:46Z")
This kid seems to me (not a real diagnosis, but winging it) partially autistic or something. The parents talk about how he’s back to normal and seemingly uneffected by the trauma, but during the news conference he just plops down on the floor and ignores everyone. And he does weird things and the parents just say, “Yup, that’s our boy.” This kid isn’t just socially immature, he’s got real problems that are probably undiagnosed because the parents are in denial. And it’s entirely possible that this denial came close to getting the boy killed, as rescue searchers generally try different strategies if they know the person they are looking for is mentally disadvantaged in some way. ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Norder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@Dan\_Norder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Norder)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/56 "2005-06-23T08:03:33Z")
But then on second thought, assuming this kid spent any time at all with the scouts before getting lost, the scoutmasters should have noticed he wasn’t right in the head and mentioned something to the organizers of the search. But even knowing that I don’t know if they would have thought to think he would hide from them. The reason I second guessed myself here is that I’ve been camping with Boy Scouts and had a fair number of occasions where we knew someone wasn’t all there but just couldn’t guess what stupid thing he’d do. One was a mentally retarded kid who overheard someone joking to another person that posion ivy was a great way to keep mosquitoes away, so he found a patch and rubbed it all over everywhere, getting sent home and possibly hospitalized in the process. Another was hiking in bear country, and even knowing that we had to put anything that had an odor into a bag hoisted into the air away from camp to keep bears away, the kid who didn’t get along with anyone and was always doing dumb things (in general and to annoy people) was sleeping under a dining fly and had smuggled a packet of hot chocolate mix and had eaten some of it before bed, spilling the rest over his face and beside his sleeping bag. A bear did come, but luckily we were getting up around that time, spotted it checking the boy out, and managed to scare it away before it tried to taste chocolate-covered scout head. Freaking dumbass kid thought we were lying when we told him about the bear later. That was the first of two times I helped most likely save his life, and he was ungrateful both times. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/57 "2005-06-23T10:27:42Z")
> [@An Arky](#): > > But something is up with this incident…I find it a bit strange that he didn’t just follow the trail back to the chow hall. I don’t know what that area is like, exactly, but it sounds like it should’ve been easy enough to take that trail back to camp. I’m thinking either he’s a bit dissociative or that he was trying to run away, but thought better of it. Of course, it could all just be a regular kid that simply got lost, but something about this is a bit off. From what I’ve read, he did stay on the trail - apparently he went the wrong way on it, though. The searchers said he was unusual for a kid in that typically, kids will take the path of least resistance and follow a trail downhill, while he actually went up and over a ridge in his journey. And his parents said he doesn’t have a good sense of direction. IIRC, he was on a climbing wall and the other kid who was there turned around and went back to camp, figuring the kid would be along any minute. > [@clairobscur](#): > > And who, do you think, would have instilled in his mind a such irrationnal fear? Could it be his parents??? Or maybe the insane level of publicity over Elizabeth Smart, not all that long ago in the same state - not to mention that the year prior, a kid disappeared from the same camp and still hasn’t been found. The worst part about sensationalized kidnappings is that a kid is far more likely to get lost, or even get kidnapped by a disgruntled family member/non-“stranger”. This is what overemphasis on “stranger danger” results in, I think. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/58 "2005-06-23T12:24:44Z")
Did anyone else think this was odd? He said very little to the persons that found him other than to ask for food, and as soon as he’d eaten he wanted to play a video game on a rescuer’s cellphone. Wouldn’t most kids be eager for human interaction after being lost and alone for so long? ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/59 "2005-06-23T13:22:47Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Did anyone else think this was odd? He said very little to the persons that found him other than to ask for food, and as soon as he’d eaten he wanted to play a video game on a rescuer’s cellphone. Wouldn’t most kids be eager for human interaction after being lost and alone for so long? yeah. . .from the article. . . > [@](#): > > One of the first questions Brennan asked after he was rescued, his father said, was if the Pokemon cards he had ordered on eBay had arrived. > > \ > > After eating and drinking, the sheriff said, Brennan – wearing the same blue sweatshirt, nylon shorts and climbing shoes he was reported wearing Friday – “wanted to play a video game on one of the searchers’ cell phones.” Addicted much kiddo? No wonder he’s such a dumb dork. He probably sits in front of the TV or in his bedroom with the video games and the pokemon cards. Nice, safe activities just the way his parents want it. Mormons freak me the fuck out. I’m still convinced Elizabeth Smart wanted to run off with Grizzly Adams and didn’t want to come home again. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/60 "2005-06-23T13:27:13Z")
All kidding aside, I’m convinced the reason Elizabeth Smart said what she said when she was recognized (“Oh, you think I’m _Elizabeth Smart_, the girl who _ran away_”) was that she was afraid of her captor and felt she had to be discreet. As for the video-game-obsessed kid, it almost does sound like a joke. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435.md?page=4)