Deputies save autistic man lost in Utah desert for 3 weeks
28 replies, posted
[quote]DENVER — An autistic man lived on frogs and roots as he wandered for weeks in the remote Escalante Desert of southern Utah until being rescued, emaciated but alive.
William Martin LaFever, 28, of Colorado Springs, Colo., told rescuers that in addition to the bits of food he scavenged, including a few frogs he caught, he drank water from the Escalante River while attempting to walk from Boulder, Utah, to Page, Ariz., a distance of approximately 90 miles or more by the route he appeared to be taking.
The Garfield County Sheriff's Department estimated he had traveled about 40 miles over at least three weeks before he was found Thursday.
"It is some of the most rugged, unforgiving terrain you will find anywhere on Earth, jagged cliffs, stone ledges, sandstone, sagebrush, juniper," sheriff's spokeswoman Becki Bronson said in a telephone interview.
"Where William was hiking, there just isn't anyone out there," she said. "There are no people. There are no towns."
The sheriff's department said it was remarkable that searchers aboard a helicopter were able to find LaFever at all, much less alive.
Deputy Ray Gardner, who had recently completed training in search and rescue operations for people with autism and was aboard the helicopter, said LaFever would not have survived another 24 hours.
The helicopter took LaFever to Garfield Memorial Hospital in Panguitch. The hospital said it could not release any information on his condition.
LaFever was trying to get to Page because his father, John LaFever of Colorado Springs, told him he would wire money to him in there, the sheriff's department said in a written release.
William LaFever had called his father on June 6 or 7 to say he was hiking in the Boulder area with his dog, and that someone had stolen some of his hiking gear and he had run out of money. John LaFever told his son to catch a ride to Page to collect the money.
Unbeknownst to his father, William LaFever apparently decided to hike down the Escalante River and then hitch a boat ride along Lake Powell to Page, rather than try to catch a ride, the sheriff's department said.
LaFever set out along the river but ran out of food. His dog left him, and LaFever began abandoning his gear until all he had was the clothing and shoes he was wearing when he was found, the sheriff's department said.
The dog hasn't been seen since. Authorities do not know why the dog ran off, Bronson said.
The early June phone call was the last time the family heard from LaFever, and his sister reported him missing on Monday, the sheriff's department said.
A telephone message left at the LaFevers' home in Colorado Springs wasn't immediately returned.
Gardner's training in searching for people with autism taught him they are naturally drawn to water, so the helicopter search focused on the Escalante River, the department said.
The helicopter team spotted LaFever Thursday afternoon, sitting in the Escalante River about five miles from Lake Powell, weakly waving at the aircraft.
Gardner was dumbfounded when LaFever identified himself because of the long odds of finding anyone in that country, the sheriff's department said.
"In all my career I have never seen someone so emaciated," Gardner was quoted as saying in the sheriff's department release. "I could not believe that he was alive, and feel certain that in another 24 hours he would not have been alive."
Gardner didn't immediately return a phone message late Thursday.
LaFever was so weak that he couldn't stand, but he was so eager for human contact that at first he would not stop talking long enough to eat or drink anything, the sheriff's department said. He eventually took a drink and ate a granola bar.[/quote]
[url=http://www.policeone.com/police-heroes/articles/5824177-Deputies-save-autistic-man-lost-in-Utah-desert-for-3-weeks/]Source[/url]
Sucks that his dog left him :(
Holy [i]shit[/i] good job Sheriffs department. Glad to see he's alive.
[editline]13th July 2012[/editline]
Who steals camping gear from an Autistic person? What a shithead.
[QUOTE=Zambies!;36762670]Holy [i]shit[/i] good job Sheriffs department. Glad to see he's alive.
[editline]13th July 2012[/editline]
Who steals camping gear from an Autistic person? What a shithead.[/QUOTE]
I highly doubt that they knew that they knew that he was autistic but I think an even better question would be "Who steals camping gear from a man in the middle of a desert".
[QUOTE=Wafflemonstr;36762895]I highly doubt that they knew that they knew that he was autistic but I think an even better question would be "Who steals camping gear from a man in the middle of a desert".[/QUOTE]
Good point.
what i dont understand is, why did he start abandoning his gear?
[quote]Deputy Ray Gardner, who had [B]recently completed training in search and rescue operations for people with autism[/B] and was aboard the helicopter, said LaFever would not have survived another 24 hours.[/quote]
...okay so I assume Gardner is not himself autistic.
Which means that he took a class on SAR operations specifically to locate autistic people.
WHAT IS HAPPENING IN UTAH THAT THEIR POLICE GET SPECIAL TRAINING TO FIND AUTISTIC PEOPLE?
[QUOTE=GunFox;36763480]...okay so I assume Gardner is not himself autistic.
Which means that he took a class on SAR operations specifically to locate autistic people.
WHAT IS HAPPENING IN UTAH THAT THEIR POLICE GET SPECIAL TRAINING TO FIND AUTISTIC PEOPLE?[/QUOTE]
One more thing to add to the resume...
I'm not sure why special training would be needed unless it was a crazy severe case of autism. Clearly he's self sufficient enough to go camping on his own
[QUOTE=bob4life;36763280]what i dont understand is, why did he start abandoning his gear?[/QUOTE]
It is heavy to carry in the heat and for ~40 miles.
I went on a 9 mile hike with a full camping backpack (like a big one) around a lake, and fuck I was tired by the end.
[QUOTE=Zambies!;36762670]Holy [i]shit[/i]
Who steals camping gear from an Autistic person? What a shithead.[/QUOTE]
lloyd
[video=youtube;OQeJIVNmfCM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQeJIVNmfCM[/video]
[quote]Gardner's training in searching for people with autism taught him they are naturally drawn to water, so the helicopter search focused on the Escalante River, the department said.[/quote]
I would assume most people would choose to walk by a river, as towns often locate themselves near them.
[QUOTE=Priori;36763977]I would assume most people would choose to walk by a river, as towns often locate themselves near them.[/QUOTE]
autistic people are drawn to water
the way that's worded it makes them sound like fucking werewolves
[QUOTE=Lambeth;36763519]I'm not sure why special training would be needed unless it was a crazy severe case of autism. [B]Clearly he's self sufficient enough to go camping on his own[/B][/QUOTE]
Clearly not if you read the article. He almost died and was wandering with no real hope to reach his destination, I would say he isn't all that self sufficient.
The way that this article is worded is sort of degrading to people with autism I think.
[QUOTE=G3rman;36764349]Clearly not if you read the article. He almost died and was wandering with no real hope to reach his destination, I would say he isn't all that self sufficient.[/QUOTE]
You don't need to be a low functioning autist to get lost in the fucking desert. You know, those vcast explanses of sand, where everything looks the same, and you're half mad from thirst and heatstroke?
The fact that he got lost doesn't say shit about his intelligence.
[QUOTE=Tobylol;36766997]The way that this article is worded is sort of degrading to people with autism I think.[/QUOTE]
And autism itself isn't degrading enough to a person? To be unable to take care of yourself is quite a curse that you can't help and not even know it.
we r all human bengs and are awtisem but r deservd to haved live
[QUOTE=Stonecycle;36767260]And autism itself isn't degrading enough to a person? To be unable to take care of yourself is quite a curse that you can't help and not even know it.[/QUOTE]
I might be getting this wrong, so do correct me if I am wrong, but not every autistic person is unable to look after his/herself.
A lucky break for the guy however.
[QUOTE=GunFox;36763480]...okay so I assume Gardner is not himself autistic.
Which means that he took a class on SAR operations specifically to locate autistic people.
WHAT IS HAPPENING IN UTAH THAT THEIR POLICE GET SPECIAL TRAINING TO FIND AUTISTIC PEOPLE?[/QUOTE]
The cages are getting rusty over here.
They're escapin'.
[QUOTE=Sgt-NiallR;36767232]You don't need to be a low functioning autist to get lost in the fucking desert. You know, those vcast explanses of sand, where everything looks the same, and you're half mad from thirst and heatstroke?
The fact that he got lost doesn't say shit about his intelligence.[/QUOTE]
The fact he went out there far enough from civilization, without a feasible goal (90 miles..seriously?) says a lot personally.
[QUOTE=Brickhead;36768277]we r all human bengs and are awtisem but r deservd to haved live[/QUOTE]
Autistic people don't typically have grammar problems, you dunce.
[QUOTE=G3rman;36768755]The fact he went out there far enough from civilization, without a feasible goal (90 miles..seriously?) says a lot personally.[/QUOTE]
You do know that people sometimes enjoy camping? Adventure? Leaving the house?
Seriously, if this guy wasn't autistic you'd just be like "lucky for him", but because he is, you seem to assume he's stupid for doing so.
[QUOTE=Sergeant Stacker;36768860]Autistic people don't typically have grammar problems, you dunce.[/QUOTE]
He posts that in every thread.
[QUOTE=Sgt-NiallR;36768870]You do know that people sometimes enjoy camping? Adventure? Leaving the house?
Seriously, if this guy wasn't autistic you'd just be like "lucky for him", but because he is, you seem to assume he's stupid for doing so.[/QUOTE]
I never brought up his condition once. I'm merely pointing out that it is clear that he made an irresponsible choice by doing this and was woefully unprepared for the journey.
Even if it was a normal person I would still say they were foolish for doing something like this.
Maybe he was drawn to the river because he's IN A FUCKING DESERT.
I hope you guys realize Autism is a varying disorder with a spectrum.
The man is probably that of "High Functioning", or Aspergers (which to my knowledge is being re-classed as "High Functioning"). Which means he is basically just like you or I, besides probably being a bit awkward socially. You're awful for judging him
TL:DR, he's not stupid, and you should all feel bad for discriminating/judging or labeling him. "Retarded" or not, that's a horrible thing to do.
[url]http://autism.lovetoknow.com/Different_Levels_of_Autism[/url]
its impossible for an autistic man to starve to death, with all those ass burgers.
abc sources say the situation was so dire he had to eat his own gas mask and air soft pellets.
[editline]14th July 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=doommarine23;36769090]I hope you guys realize Autism is a varying disorder with a spectrum.
The man is probably that of "High Functioning", or Aspergers (which to my knowledge is being re-classed as "High Functioning"). Which means he is basically just like you or I, besides probably being a bit awkward socially. You're awful for judging him
TL:DR, he's not stupid, and you should all feel bad for discriminating/judging or labeling him. "Retarded" or not, that's a horrible thing to do.
[url]http://autism.lovetoknow.com/Different_Levels_of_Autism[/url][/QUOTE]
im sorry
[editline]14th July 2012[/editline]
autistic people are naturally drawn to water, like lil skinny hairless buffalos.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.