Authorities in Utah rescued a man this week who'd spent three weeks wandering alone in the desert, surviving on roots and a few frogs, while he waited to be found. William LeFever's story has grabbed national attention in no small part because he is an adult with autism. It's one of those stories that could easily have gone the other way.
LeFever apparently ended up in the desert by choice -- at least initially. An outdoorsy type of guy, the 28-year-old called his dad in June to say his hiking gear had been stolen. But this is where the story gets ... odd.
Authorities say LeFever's father told his son he'd wire money to Page, Arizona. According to my calculations (OK, Google Maps' calculations), that's some 220 miles from Boulder, Utah, where LeFever was. His dad's suggestion? "Catch a ride."
OK, let's stop right there for a second. I understand this man is 28 years old. But isn't hitchhiking dangerous? Not to mention illegal in many places? Your own child tells you their gear has been stolen, and they need help, and your best suggestion is to tell them they have to go 200-some miles to get it ... without a safe means to get there?
Gee, what a "nice" parent, huh? Oh, but it gets worse.
So LeFever apparently ignored dear old Dad's advice and tried to hike the trip. That's when disaster struck -- his dog ran off, he ran out of food, and he seems to have gotten hopelessly lost in the Utah desert. When authorities found him, he was emaciated and in desperate need of medical care.
But get this: he'd been in the desert for three weeks, and it wasn't until THIS WEEK that someone in his family -- a sister -- decided to report him missing. After three weeks without hearing from your kid, who you KNOW was short on cash? And who has autism?
LeFever is somewhere on the autism spectrum -- although we don't know exactly where. I think it's necessary to point out that there are a lot of myths about autism that are pushing people to jump to conclusions over the horror of this story here (as if being lost in the desert for three weeks isn't horror enough). But having autism doesn't make you either dumb or incapable of taking care of yourself. However, it does mean the person has special needs to consider ... and their parent, of all people, should be aware of that!
William LeFever may be a grown man responsible for his own horrific ordeal in the desert. But it doesn't sound like this poor guy has it terribly easy anywhere!
What would you do if your adult child called and needed cash -- autism or no autism?
Image via Guilherme Jofili/Flickr
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Comments 12
In a heartbeat. well it depends on what they needed it for but if it was to get home, of course I would
You seem to want to vilify the father, but don't leave any real facts as to why he's so bad.
If they didn't speak but every cpl weeks anyway, it wouldn't be odd for dad to not report him. He wired him money, right? And he said CATCH a ride, not HITCH a ride. Maybe meaning catch one with friends, a cab, or a bus? And maybe that was the cloest location for him to wire money to?
I'm not ready to jump on the "bad parent" yet.
An btw, autism or not, he was obviously functioning enough to get there in the first place, to know he needed money, call and ask for it, etc. He's alive, he knew what to eat. High functioning autism isn't a reason to freak out if you don't hear from someone who obviously knows what they're doing.
This story seems to have a lot of loose ends and not enough information to jump to the conclusions that you obviously have. Once again writers on the stir have not checked out the stories completely.
I'm sorry, but what more details do you need? Why couldn't the father wire money to him some where closer to where he lives? I refuse to believe there was NO where else in that 220 miles that he could have wired money to. That right there is being an asshole of a parent. Why not mail him a check directly to where he lived? More details would be nice, but I'd still find this father to be an @ss. Giving your kid money when they need it doesn't always equate to a good parent.
I mostly agree with the writer. The dad sends his autistic son money over 200 miles away, tells him to catch a ride, and then doesn't even bother to check on him?
Even if he DIDN'T have autism, one would think that a parent would stop and think "You know, I haven't heard from my child in 3 weeks, and he was broke from having his things stolen. Maybe I should see if he's ok".
Thousands of adults go missing every year in the US. Most are victims of foul play. That alone should scare most parents. I live in Maryland where the big storm came thru 2 weeks ago. My mom was out of her mind when she couldn't get in touch with us for 4 days (no power), let alone 3 weeks!
And Autistic people do need help and should be looked after a bit more closely than "normal" people.
Obviously there was a shit-ton of desert between the man and civilization. Maybe that was LITERALLY the closest place to wire it? Maybe that IS closest to where the son lives, since he obviously wasn't at home?
The man is 28, autistic or not, its not his dad's job to give him money when he is quite able to care for himself. If he weren't able, then I can only assume he would still be living at home/in a home for lesser funtioning devolpmentally disabled people.