Autistic man holds out desert ordeal
Source: Agencies |
July 14, 2012, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
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, said 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, Arizona, a distance of approximately 145 kilometers or more by the route he appeared to be taking.
The Garfield County Sheriff's Department estimated he had traveled about 65km over at least three weeks before he was found on 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.
"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 a local hospital, which did not release any information on his condition.
LaFever was trying to get to Page because his father, John LaFever 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.
William LaFever 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.
William Martin LaFever, 28, said 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, Arizona, a distance of approximately 145 kilometers or more by the route he appeared to be taking.
The Garfield County Sheriff's Department estimated he had traveled about 65km over at least three weeks before he was found on 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.
"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 a local hospital, which did not release any information on his condition.
LaFever was trying to get to Page because his father, John LaFever 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.
William LaFever 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.
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