# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/61 "2005-06-23T13:31:46Z")
> [@laina\_f](#): > > Niece’s dad: While we’re gone, you have to do everything Aunt Laina says. Are you going to do everything Aunt Laina says? > Niece: Yes. > Dad: If Aunt Laina tells you to take a bath, are you going to take a bath? > Niece: Yes. > Dad: If Aunt Laina tells you to go to your room, are you going to go to your room? > Niece: Yes. > Dad: If Aunt Laina tells you to jump off a bridge, are you going to jump off a bridge? > Niece: No way. These are awesome parents. This kid is going to be a total pain in the ass right around fourth grade, when all the other kids are _just realizing_ that they can make decisions for themselves. This one is going to have a head start, and will likely lead a gang of miscreants in a game of “ask the teacher WHY”. Good on her, and good on her parents. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/62 "2005-06-23T13:43:31Z")
I don’t know that the kids an idiot (tho’ that was my first thought, really), but perhaps a bit simple. What I’m wondering is whether he’s terrified of his parents. Think about it: fundy parents, sheltered lives - I can see there being a lot of anger there. Not that they abuse him, no, but it’s possible that these are parents from which you learn your lessons, or else. Perhaps the boy was so terrified of reprisals if he didn’t follow his parents’ teachings that “don’t talk to strangers” overrode “find some help, already.” I know some parents that this was the case with, certainly. ---
**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, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/63 "2005-06-23T13:44:28Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > 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. I wasn’t even familiar with that quote. She went with him to be one of his wives. AND, her parents and every other Mormon in Utah knew it all along. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/64 "2005-06-23T13:55:37Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > 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. That is all kids, noawadays, grandpa. ---
**Author:** ![Geobabe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/geobabe/32/3908_2.png) [@Geobabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geobabe)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/65 "2005-06-23T14:02:06Z")
> [@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. Same here. The quotes from the parents scream, “Overprotective” to me. I think this puts it into context: > [@WhyNot](#): > > Try reading it like this: He was born prematurely and scared the piss out of his parents. Terrified that he might die, they “protected” him and didn’t let him take the normal risks kids should take growing up. As a result, he’s grown shy and afraid of his own shadow. It’s understandable that they’d want to be protective of the kid, but clearly they didn’t realize what a disservice they were doing him by being that way. ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/66 "2005-06-23T14:14:56Z")
A couple of things: I know it has already been mentioned, but the local media (the kid lives about 15 miles from me) has mentioned the “immature” things but also something about the kid being “socially slow” and quite a bit behind his peers in maturity. I don’t know if it is due to his premature and difficult birth (maybe a lack of oxygen at birth, I dunno), codling parents, or a combination of both. If you feel the need to place blame, blame the parents for not raising him to your standard of child rearing (I agree BTW, they did him a grave diservice) or the scout leaders for not keeping closer watch on the kids. > [@](#): > > 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 am very familiar with the Uintah Mountains. They are thick, dense, rugged terrain. It is not surprising to me in the least that the kid got lost. It happens every year – deer hunters, trained hikers, snowmobilers. . . people with a lot more training than this little boy who had absolutely none. Had he somehow got turned around and took the trail the wrong direction, it wouldn’t have taken long for him to be lost. > [@](#): > > 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. Holy Christ, he is an 11 year old boy. He was fed, given water, . . safe, and then he asks to play with a phone. Judgmental much? > [@](#): > > Mormons freak me the fuck out. I live smackdab in the middle of Mormonville, however, I am agnostic/atheist and personally feel their teachings are silly and naïve. I feel like I have enough personal experience with them to make the solid statement that I think you are, again, a judgmental, bigotted prick. BTW, I probably missed it, but did the media even state that the family is Mormon? I don’t recall hearing one way or another. It maybe hard for you to believe, but not everyone in Utah is Mormon. > [@](#): > > I’m still convinced Elizabeth Smart wanted to run off with Grizzly Adams and didn’t want to come home again. Yeah, cause that’s the dream of every little girl – to be kidnapped from your room, taken away to live in the hills with a couple of psychos, forced to live a transient/homeless lifestyle, and best of all, be sexually molested and raped on a daily basis, for months and months. > [@](#): > > Again I say, it’s possible he was too embarrassed to ask for help. Wanted to see if he could find his way out on his own. He may have read survival stories, like the one about the guy who amputated his foot. Okay, that is just bizarre. Do you honestly think a frightened, cold, wet, hungry, thristy 11 year old is going to hide from rescuers after being lost in the woods for days, just because he wants to see if he can find his own way out? Odd. BTW, you’re right, the guy didn’t amputate his foot, it was his arm. His name is Aron Ralston and he was trapped under a boulder while hiking in Moab, Utah for days. In a last ditch effort to save his own life, he broke his arm then amputated it with small knife. Amazing story. [http://useractive.com/proxycgi.cgi?par2=http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5954087/](http://useractive.com/proxycgi.cgi?par2=http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5954087/) ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/67 "2005-06-23T14:19:38Z")
I really felt for those parents and was so glad to hear the boy was found! I agree that something is up with the kid. My son was both premature (23 weeks) and has Asperger’s, and what that boy did sounds just like the kind of bone-head maneuver my son would pull (Whynot- I don’t think his Asperger’s is directly related to his prematurity)- not following the ‘usual’ rules, inappropriate application of ‘rules’, asking for electronics, odd reactions to the searchers, etc. I also felt for the other dad who helped search for the lost boy whose son was lost in the same area never found. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/68 "2005-06-23T14:29:52Z")
> [@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? Not to pull a Bill Frist, but rigid, unreasoning adherence to rules. “Socially immature.” Prefering a video game to human contact. Sounds kinda like an undiagnosed case of Asperger’s Disorder (a cousin of Autism). I could be dead wrong, but I think we all agree [Hank Hill]“that boy ain’t right.”[/HH] On preview: what **Ca3799** said. ---
**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, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/69 "2005-06-23T14:32:44Z")
> [@Diane](#): > > Yeah, cause that’s the dream of every little girl – to be kidnapped from your room, taken away to live in the hills with a couple of psychos, forced to live a transient/homeless lifestyle, and best of all, be sexually molested and raped on a daily basis, for months and months. She wasn’t kidnapped. She left with him willingly. And then had sex with him willingly. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/70 "2005-06-23T14:33:41Z")
> [@Diane](#): > > A I am very familiar with the Uintah Mountains. They are thick, dense, rugged terrain. It is not surprising to me in the least that the kid got lost. It happens every year – deer hunters, trained hikers, snowmobilers. . . I’ve gotten myself pretty badly lost in the woods, and I was a trained soldier who was (and is) unusually sharp at using maps and compasses, and I have an excellent sense of direction. I got myself back with those tools, but until I did I got badly turned around and didn’t even realize it. Had I not had a map with me I guess I would have had to get help by firing my rifle in the air. Hopefully that would have worked. I don’t think people sometimes grasp how easy it is to get lost in the wilderness. It takes one wrong turn and wham, you’re totally disoriented. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/71 "2005-06-23T14:50:54Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > I wasn’t even familiar with that quote. > > She went with him to be one of his wives. AND, her parents and every other Mormon in Utah knew it all along. **Trunk** , you’re way off base on this one. If you choose not to like Mormons, that’s fine, but at least try to find out some of the facts before you go off half-cocked. The LDS church has not practised or endorsed polygamy since 1890, and it is considered grounds for immediate excommunication. Yes, there are some breakaway sects, such as the FLDS group on the Utah/Arizona border, who maintain the practice of polygamy, but they are not in any way affiliated or recognized by the LDS church. Elizabeth Smart did not go willingly with her abductor, and she was very happy to be back with her parents. Brian David Mitchell, the alleged kidnapper, is a deranged individual who spent his time before the abduction running around the streets proclaiming himself to be the Messiah. Please do not make unsubstantiated statements about things which you obviously know nothing about. ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/72 "2005-06-23T14:51:52Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > She wasn’t kidnapped. She left with him willingly. And then had sex with him willingly. Yeah okay, whatever you say jackass. ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/73 "2005-06-23T14:54:30Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I don’t think people sometimes grasp how easy it is to get lost in the wilderness. It takes one wrong turn and wham, you’re totally disoriented. Especially when the trees are thick and the terrain is steep and full of ravines and canyons. Virtually zero visability. ---
**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, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/74 "2005-06-23T15:04:42Z")
> [@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? Could it be possible that he was in shock? ---
**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, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/75 "2005-06-23T15:11:58Z")
> [@FatBaldGuy](#): > > Please do not make unsubstantiated statements about things which you obviously know nothing about. And your expertise in the investigation is what now. . . ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/76 "2005-06-23T15:14:54Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > And your expertise in the investigation is what now. . . If you’re going to seriously claim that Miss Smart was a willing participant in her own disappearance, I’m going to want to see lots and lots of cites. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/77 "2005-06-23T15:22:23Z")
> [@Pullet](#): > > Mormons, especially Mormons in Utah, are fun because they’re all secretive and stuff and there’s always the possibility of polygamy. And really, aren’t those the important issues that the media needs to report on and we all have to eagerly drink up? So when one of their kids goes missing, its a great oppertunity to get all the inside dirt on their families under the guise of “helping.” > > France or Germany. I’d go with Germany because I like pointy buildings. What a completely jackassish thing to say. Are you proud of that post? Do you consider it to be intelligent discourse? Do you know what a total jerk you appear to be by making it? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/78 "2005-06-23T15:25:38Z")
> [@The Highwayman](#): > > I’m sorry but that kid is stupid. I hope they don’t give him a ten-speed and a jumbo Mormon bible on his mission because he won’t be long for the world. I’m Mormon and I’ve never heard of a “jumbo Mormon bible.” Care to enlighten me? Or, better yet, care to retract your asinine comment about the kid? ---
**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, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/79 "2005-06-23T15:28:54Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > If you’re going to seriously claim that Miss Smart was a willing participant in her own disappearance, I’m going to want to see lots and lots of cites. I’m going to want to see the guilty conviction of the guy she ran away with. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435/80 "2005-06-23T15:29:56Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#): > > He has that white-as-a-grub over-protected fundie-child innocence about him, as if he’s had the common sense bred right out of him. Your posting has that “Only a compelte jerk would post such a thing” look about it. Oh, look, you did. > [@](#): > > If some kid in Provo sees the outline of the Angel Moroni on his Pop-Tart tomorrow morning, expect Ed Smart to supply a soundbite. What calculus, exactly, did you use to make such a moronic statement regarding Moroni and Ed Smart? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-utah-kid-was-an-idiot/309435.md?page=5)