Lost Boy

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Uinta Triangle – "Lost Boy" (Bonus Episode)

Host: Dave Cawley
Release Date: May 20, 2026
Podcast by: Lemonada Media & KSL Podcasts

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Overview

This bonus episode of Uinta Triangle explores a harrowing but ultimately hopeful story from the Uinta Mountains. Host Dave Cawley recounts the desperate search for three-year-old Benjamin Myrip, who disappeared while camping with his family and friends at Haystack Lake in 2007. Through interviews with Benjamin, his parents, and searchers, the episode examines the terrifying ordeal of a lost child, the intensity of search and rescue operations, and the lasting effects on everyone involved. The episode stands as a tribute to community, resilience, and the enduring pull of wild places.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Disappearance (00:31–04:33)

• Setting the Stage:

  • Three-year-old Benjamin disappears during a camping trip at Haystack Lake, while his mother Naomi Jacobs and friends are preparing breakfast.
  • They were "at large" camping beyond an established campsite, common in the western US.
  • The search begins when Naomi realizes Benjamin is missing after a bear hunt game with the kids.

• Emotional Toll on Parents:

  • Naomi initially believes Benjamin will turn up quickly.
    • "Oh, he'll show up. It's fine. Like, he's probably just really close." (02:52 – Naomi Jacobs)
  • As time passes with no sign, anxiety mounts, and the realization hits:
    • "I felt like this shouldn't be that big of a deal. He should just be right here." (03:43 – Naomi Jacobs)
  • Naomi drives 25 miles to find a landline to call for help.

2. The Search Intensifies (04:15–14:38)

• Bringing in Help:

  • Search and Rescue teams mobilize, including air support from Utah DPS.
  • Naomi notifies her estranged husband, Matthew Myrip, who drives in from Salt Lake City.
  • Previous similar cases are referenced, including the Garrett Bardsley and Brennan Hawkins disappearances, underscoring mounting fears.

• Community & Volunteer Response:

  • The Bardsley Foundation, created by the father of a still-missing boy, helps organize volunteers.
  • Hundreds of volunteers—some on ATVs, some with horses, scent dogs, and even honeymooners halted their plans to help search.
    • "The amount of response, the amount of people who came out astounded me." (11:58 – Naomi Jacobs)
    • "We are grateful that we have our baby back and he's safe." (20:46 – Naomi Jacobs)

• Challenges of the Terrain:

  • Searchers contend with steep slopes, proximity to the Provo River, cold night temperatures, and wildlife considerations.
  • Authorities withhold some dangers (active bears, risk of drowning) from parents to spare them additional worry.

3. The Discovery and Rescue (15:20–20:34)

• The Crucial Helicopter Search (16:25–17:48):

  • As dusk falls, Gary Hannay and Paul, search and rescue team members, take one final helicopter sweep along a steep embankment previously dismissed.
    • "All of a sudden, it was either Paul or the pilot said, what was that? ... And sure enough, I spotted Benjamin." (16:47 – Gary Hannay)
  • Benjamin is seen crouched between rocks, just 15 yards from the Provo River.
  • Ground teams retrieve him and bring him safely to his parents, just as hope was running out.

• Emotional Reunion:

  • Overwhelming relief as news spreads; the campsite erupts in joy.
    • "All the reality that I'd been pushing aside all day that he could have been gone forever hit me. And then it was not true and he was found." (19:38 – Naomi Jacobs)

4. Interviews & Reflections: “What Happened After?” (21:53–26:46)

• Benjamin’s Memories:

  • Recalls getting turned around during the bear hunt game, wandering, sliding down an embankment, and using a lost shoe as a pillow.
    • "I remember the bear hunt game...In my tiny little brain, we went super far away...It's just a bunch of forest." (21:53 – Benjamin Myrip)
  • Remembers seeing the helicopter, being rescued by familiar faces, and wanting scrambled eggs.

• Lasting Impact on the Family:

  • The episode explores the long-term effects on family routines and psychology:
    • Naomi now dresses all her kids in matching clothing, carries whistles when hiking.
    • Both parents express lasting gratitude and awareness around outdoor safety.
      • "It's affected your wardrobe, that's for dang sure." (25:42 – Naomi Jacobs)
      • "The wilderness is something that should be respected. Follow the hiking guidelines..." (25:53 – Naomi Jacobs)

• Gratitude and Perspective:

  • The family feels an eternal debt to rescuers and volunteers.
    • "They gave up their time, they gave up their energy...All the people that came together just to find him. I couldn't imagine my life without him..." (26:46 – Naomi Jacobs)
  • The bittersweet moment when Kevin Bardsley, still searching for his own son, helps celebrate Benjamin’s safe return.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Naomi Jacobs (03:43):
  "It was really hard to make that call and be like, I lost my kid. I don't know where he is."

• Matthew Myrip (05:57):
  "I'm the only person on this highway that knows what those helicopters are doing. And that's kind of when it was more reality to me. Like, oh my gosh, this is like real. It's not, it's not a dream."

• Naomi Jacobs (07:38):
  "We weren't good married to each other, but we've always focused on loving our kids and being the best parents we can to our kids."

• Gary Hannay (16:47):
  "All of a sudden, it was either Paul or the pilot said, what was that?...Sure enough, I spotted Benjamin. He was just this little kid, just...I think he was crouched down between two rocks."

• Naomi Jacobs (20:34):
  "The response time was fabulous. And they found my baby and he's fine."

• Benjamin Myrip (21:53):
  "I remember the bear hunt game...In my tiny little brain, we went super far away..."

• Naomi Jacobs (26:46):
  "I never would have found him on my own...I feel like I owe a debt to all these people and I know I can never repay it...But it's okay because he's here."

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Key Timestamps for Important Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |---------------------------------|-------------| | Disappearance, Initial Search | 00:31–04:33 | | Community Response/Volunteers | 11:58–13:37 | | Helicopter Search & Rescue | 16:25–17:48 | | Emotional Reunion | 19:19–20:46 | | Benjamin's Memories | 21:53–24:34 | | Family Reflections | 25:42–27:42 |

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Conclusions—Lessons and Legacy

• Preparedness & Parent Vigilance: The case underscores the importance of rigorous preparation in outdoor recreation, both for children and adults.
• Community Power: The immense volunteer and community response proved essential—the difference between tragedy and relief.
• Lasting Impacts: For Benjamin, the experience did not create a fear of the forest, but deepened family bonds and awareness.
• Gratitude: The story is a moving testament to the gratitude people feel towards rescuers and the lasting emotional imprint of a "near miss" in the wilderness.

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For more immersive storytelling and resources, visit uintatriangle.com.

Transcript

[Benjamin Myrip]

Mom, can you tell me a story?

[Carvana Narrator]

Sure. Once upon a time, a mom needed a new car.

[Naomi Jacobs]

Was she brave?

[Carvana Narrator]

She was tired mostly. But she went to Carvana.com and found a great car at a great price. No secret treasure map required.

[Naomi Jacobs]

Did she have to fight a dragon?

[Carvana Narrator]

Nope. She bought it 100% online from her bed, actually.

[Dave Cawley]

Was it scary?

[Carvana Narrator]

Honey, it was as unscary as car buying could be.

[Naomi Jacobs]

Did the car have a sunroof?

[Carvana Narrator]

It did, actually. Okay, good story. Car buying. You'll want to tell stories about Buy your car today on Carvana. Delivery fees may apply.

[Dave Cawley]

Dave I'm Dave Cawley and this is a bonus episode of Uinta Triangle. When a person goes missing in the mountains, minutes matter.

[Gary Hannay]

In that backcountry of the Uintas, I think it's pretty easy for someone to just disappear.

[Dave Cawley]

The difference between finding a missing person alive or perhaps not finding them at all often depends on how quickly searchers start looking. You know, we want to find him as quickly as possible and we are just. We're starting at the point last seen and we're moving out from there. The window of time when the missing person is alive, conscious and capable of assisting in their own rescue can be very short. And it's even shorter when the missing person is a child.

[Gary Hannay]

Kids do disappear. Staying at your car with a tent pitched in a in a general campsite, your kids can still slip away.

[Dave Cawley]

To cite a It's every parent's worst nightmare. And here I'm going to share one such story of a lost kid with you. It happened in the hyuintas on September 11, 2007. A young mother named Naomi Jacobs was there camping with a friend.

[Naomi Jacobs]

My friend Jordan was like, let's go on a camp out. I hadn't been camping up there before she had been. She took her kids and a friend's kid and my kids and we just went up to moms camping.

[Dave Cawley]

Naomi had two sons at the time, Benjamin and Sam. Benjamin was the older of the two, but he was just three years old.

[Benjamin Myrip (child)]

Now.

[Dave Cawley]

They weren't in an established campground. Instead, they were camping out of their car alongside a dirt road in national forest land. This is what's called at large camping and it's really popular in the western US where public land is plentiful. The nearest landmark to their camp was a small body of water called Haystack Lake, about a mile off the Mirror Lake highway. It's a busy spot during the summer, but this was mid September and early in the week, so there weren't many other People around Naomi and her friend Jordan divided duties.

[Naomi Jacobs]

She made dinner, and I watched the kids. I was making breakfast, and she was watching the kids. She had them all playing a bear hunt game. Like, we're going on a bear hunt. We're going to catch a big one. I could see them. They're all in a circle. And then when we were coming to breakfast, I was like, well, where's Ben? Where's Benjamin? And we couldn't find him. So we started hollering.

[Dave Cawley]

What went through your mind when you first hear that? Hey, I can't find him.

[Naomi Jacobs]

Well, first I was like, oh, he'll show up. It's fine. Like, he's probably just really close. But my first instinct is like, oh, he'll just. We'll just call him and he'll come back. So I did a lap calling for him, and he didn't answer. And I didn't hear him. I didn't see any sign of him. So then I started to get really nervous, and Jordan went to go look for him, and I put all the kids in the car. We had six kids, I think, between the two of us. And she came back and said she couldn't find him. So then I took off down the mountain to call.

[Dave Cawley]

There's no cell service at Haystack Lake or even anywhere close by. So Naomi had to drive about 25 miles down the Mirror Lake highway before she spotted the Samick Smokehouse, a small business she figured might have a landline telephone.

[Naomi Jacobs]

My phone couldn't get reception, so I stopped at that store. And the clerk, bless her heart, she let me use her phone and I called it. And it was really hard to make that call and be like, I lost my kid. I don't know where he is. The 911 operator clicked over, very serious. Where was he seen last? What was he wearing? And it just became this really big deal really quickly. I felt very silly calling. Like, I felt like this shouldn't be that big of a deal. He should just be right here.

[Dave Cawley]

The dispatcher for the Summit County Sheriff's Office paged out their search and rescue team. The sheriff's office didn't have its own helicopter, so the dispatcher also contacted the Utah Department of Public Safety, or dps, to request air support. Naomi, meanwhile, called her husband, Matthew Myrip.

[Matthew Myrip]

First thing she says, benjamin's missing. And you're like, you're kidding, right? But then she started breaking down crying. Because saying the words versus thinking what you're going to say on the phone is completely different.

[Dave Cawley]

Matthew was at work at a hotel 90 minutes away in Salt Lake City.

[Matthew Myrip]

And it was just me and one other employee working at the front desk at the time. And I'm not going to stand around and find someone. So I just told my coworker, hey, I gotta go. My son's missing coworker. I don't think she understood the extent of what was going on because she kept saying, oh, he's gonna be okay, don't worry. And it's like he's one of those kids that's missing now in the mountains. It's not gonna. It may not be okay.

[Dave Cawley]

Matthew knew about the case of Garrett Bardsley, a 12 year old boy who had disappeared in the Hyuintas three summers earlier. I mentioned the search for Garrett in episode three. It had been a huge news story and Matthew knew Garrett wasn't found. The idea that could happen to his kid didn't seem real.

[Matthew Myrip]

You know, you see stuff like that and it in your mind, oh, that happens to other people. I feel bad for the other people, but, you know, nothing like that crazy can happen to me. And then that happens.

[Dave Cawley]

Matthew rushed to his car and started driving toward the Uinta Mountains. His route took him through Camas, a rural community at the southwestern foot of the Uintas.

[Matthew Myrip]

Going to Camas, like that last straight of way, I remember just seeing the DPS helicopter going up the canyon and I realized that I'm the only person on this highway that knows what those helicopters are doing. And that's kind of when it was more reality to me. Like, oh my gosh, this is like real. It's not, it's not a dream.

[Dave Cawley]

Summit county deputies and searchers were headed for Haystack Lake at that same moment, thinking they were looking for two missing people, not just one.

[Naomi Jacobs]

When I made the call, I told them that my son was missing and my friend Jordan, who was pregnant at the time, was looking for him. So they started it as two people were missing in the mountains. But Jordan was never lost. But because she was out looking for him without any support, they counted her as lost at first. So I turned around to get back up and she was back at the campsite and had told me that she still hadn't found him. So we waited there for people to show up.

[Dave Cawley]

Naomi's friend Jordan corralled all the kids, keeping them together in one tent as the first responders arrived and set up a command post. Matthew rolled up to Haystack Lake shortly after and found Naomi.

[Matthew Myrip]

When I got to the campsite, we were just like, oh my gosh this is like, so awful. And so we just embraced their. Just kind of crying to each other, hoping for the best that we would be able to find Benjamin. At that time, Naomi and I had already started our divorce.

[Dave Cawley]

Oh, yeah, plot twist. Naomi and Matthew were separated only a week away from finalizing a divorce. No one really knew that at the time outside of a few close friends and family. And part of what I find remarkable about this story is how Naomi and Matthew acted toward one another under such extreme conditions.

[Naomi Jacobs]

We weren't good married to each other, but we've always focused on loving our kids and being the best parents we can to our kids. And so he was completely supportive of trying to find Benjamin. He didn't blame me at all. He knew, like, accidents happen, kids wander off. It could have been horrible. And he could have blown up and said, you're not a fit mother when it was just can happen to anybody.

[Dave Cawley]

They watched as more and more search and rescue team members kept arriving, gearing up to look for their son.

[Matthew Myrip]

I was still overwhelmed at the beginning, even though it was pretty small with the search efforts, just to see as many people that were there. I mean, they were fairly straightforward with us, you know, telling us what sections they're searching because they do a pretty good job of keeping track. So there's no overlap.

[Dave Cawley]

The terrain around Haystack Lake made for tough searching. To the west, there's a tall ridge they figured Benjamin could not have crossed. To the east, the ground drops steeply away toward the Provo River. Between these two barriers were rocky rolling hills covered with pine trees. A landscape full of hazards.

[Naomi Jacobs]

The police did not tell me that they were worried about him going to the river. They did not tell me that they were worried about him being in the lake and drowning. They didn't tell me about the active bears in the area.

[Matthew Myrip]

Sure, there's stuff that they're keeping back, you know, they didn't want to tell us, I would imagine, just to not make us worry even more.

[Naomi Jacobs]

They told us to stay in the tent area because if he was wandering around, leave the tents up and just stay here.

[Dave Cawley]

So Matthew and Naomi waited. I don't remember exactly when I first learned of the search and rescue mission for Benjamin. At the time, I worked for a small radio station and was the only field reporter on staff. Part of my job was listening to police scanners and responding to breaking news. So I probably learned about it that way. I do remember grabbing my microphone and camera, then heading for the Hyuintas. The search had probably been underway for A couple of hours. By the time I got there, the dirt road leading from the highway to Haystack Lake was choked with trucks and trailers. Volunteer searchers were milling about, some unloading ATVs. I'd seen all this before. Two years earlier, an 11 year old boy Scout named Brennan Hawkins wandered away from a well established camp in the Uintas. Hundreds of people helped look for Brennan. I spent several days in the mountains covering that search. On the fourth day, as hope of finding Brennan alive seemed all but gone, a volunteer on a four wheeler spotted him a long, long way from where he'd last been seen. A bit earlier, I mentioned Garrett Bardsley, the boy who had disappeared in the Kuberent Basin area of the Uintas in 2004 and who's never been found. In the wake of that tragedy, Garrett's father Kevin created a non profit to help train and organize volunteer searchers.

[Matthew Myrip]

That was always fresh on my mind. So I knew who Kevin Bardsley was and his foundation when they were there.

[Dave Cawley]

The Bardsley foundation was just arriving on scene at Haystack Lake when I showed up to cover the search for Benjamin Myro.

[Benjamin Myrip]

Okay, I cannot tell you how much this is so cool that this many people are already out here.

[Dave Cawley]

That noise in the background is the helicopter Matthew had seen during his drive. It was just taking off after landing to refuel. Naomi had provided the sheriff's office with a detailed description of Benjamin.

[Naomi Jacobs]

They asked what he was wearing and I went down like every detail of what he was wearing.

[Benjamin Myrip]

Okay, so he's got a blue hoodie on, he's got a medium one shirt with dump trucks on underneath his hoodie and he's got gray soccer pajamas underneath that.

[Matthew Myrip]

During that time, Benjamin was being potty trained and he didn't have a diaper on, he was just an underpants. So we were just worried that, oh, he's gonna just be all rashed up and everything.

[Benjamin Myrip]

He's got, you know, the movie cars, he's got the underpants from the movie car.

[Dave Cawley]

I've seen searches where at this stage the logistics start to fall apart. Command posts get overwhelmed by well meaning volunteers. But that didn't happen here. As soon as volunteers arrived, they were assembled into teams, given a briefing and sent into the field.

[Naomi Jacobs]

Sorry, I'm trying not to cry. The amount of response, the amount of people who came out astounded me.

[Matthew Myrip]

I just couldn't believe how many volunteers there are. It's crazy.

[Dave Cawley]

The Bardsley foundation served as a go between helping organize and track the volunteers on behalf of the Team sheriff's office. They checked IDs and kept a log of everyone who joined the effort.

[Naomi Jacobs]

I had known about Garrett being lost. I didn't know that his dad had started a foundation, the Garrett Bardsley Foundation. Like his dad came out, he had just developed a texting tree for his search and rescue. For the people who have volunteered to let them know that there's a kid missing and this is where it is and here it's to come.

[Dave Cawley]

Naomi and Matthew's families also rushed up the mountain to help.

[Naomi Jacobs]

So my sister in law's in laws had four wheelers. They came up. I know somebody else had horses and they came up. We had dogs come. There was airplanes and helicopters flying. Like it was a massive amount of people who just came. And I remember these when people were vacationing and they were stopping all the cars to check for him and they're like, there's a little boy missing. They got out and they started looking.

[Jennifer Mulvey]

Jennifer Mulvey from Arizona is on her honeymoon. She's sightseeing in the area and found out about the missing boy.

[Naomi Jacobs]

This morning we came up the mountain and got stopped by some officers that were searching the cars to see if anybody had taken the little boy.

[Jennifer Mulvey]

I guess the Mobys are part of a growing pack of volunteers to find the child who was camping with his family at Haystack Lake.

[Naomi Jacobs]

The breaking news updates were very often and I think they were instrumental in helping to get more people to come out to look for him.

[Jennifer Mulvey]

Now they're searching a three to four mile radius and with every hour the tension is mounting.

[Dave Cawley]

At some point, scent tracking dogs led a search party to the brink of a steep slope overlooking the Provo River.

[Naomi Jacobs]

And they kept going to this embankment. And the handler's like, he couldn't go down there, that's too steep. We would see signs of him tumbling down or something. And so they, they directed the dogs other ways.

[Dave Cawley]

I took some photos that afternoon and what stands out to me about them now is the subtle shift in the weather. When I first arrived, skies were bright and blue with high puffy clouds. But by late afternoon it turned overcast.

[Jennifer Mulvey]

Keep in mind it was a very calm 60 degrees out here today. But then tonight they say it should get into the upper 20s. So the cold is something that they're going to have to deal with as well.

[Naomi Jacobs]

I stayed pretty calm all day. I'm like, they have all day. He got lost before breakfast. It's still light. I was really good my most of the day just being like, we have time, we have Time, it'll be fine. And then when it started to get evening and overcast is when I started panicking.

[Dave Cawley]

The volunteers began to disperse, retreating down the mountain, returning home for the night. The sheriff's office planned to remain on site, but search operations would suspend. At sundown, Matthew and Naomi realized they might need to leave as well, to find a place to stay without Benjamin.

[Matthew Myrip]

Because we're going to stay in Camas

[Dave Cawley]

overnight at the foot of the mountain about 25 miles or 40 kilometers away.

[Matthew Myrip]

As we were about to leave to go find accommodations, lodging somewhere, I thought, you know, I could wake up tomorrow. I really don't know if Benjamin will still be alive. And at that point is when I kind of accepted that things could go for the worse.

[Dave Cawley]

Gary Hannay was. Was one of the official search and rescue team members.

[Gary Hannay]

We were doing what we call grid searching. We were expanding out, and I think we expanded out to about two miles. And then we realized that he possibly could have gone further than that.

[Dave Cawley]

Gary knew as well as anyone the odds of Benjamin surviving a night alone were not good, especially if Benjamin had been on the move all day without food or water.

[Gary Hannay]

Yeah, I mean, nobody likes to think about that, but people finally get exhausted and they pass away from the elements.

[Dave Cawley]

Delivering Benjamin's lifeless body to his parents was not an outcome anyone wanted.

[Gary Hannay]

Anxiety is really flying because we're like, man, we can't let this kid spend the night out here. And so the helicopter, he was sitting on the ground, and we kind of. We were all regrouping and discussing. There was another guy with me. His name was Paul. And we just kind of decided, you know, if the helicopter's got enough fuel, we should give it one last attempt before the sun goes down.

[Dave Cawley]

Gary and Paul boarded the chopper. Gary sat in the back with the sliding door open so he could see out the side. He instructed the pilot to fly over an area the search planners had so far discounted, the same area where the tracking dogs had gone earlier in the day. No one believed Benjamin could have found his way down that steep embankment. But Gary wanted to check to be sure.

[Gary Hannay]

The sun was almost to go down. So the shadows in the trees are really long, and it appears dark down in there. And all of a sudden, it was either Paul or the pilot said, what was that? They didn't really know what it was. And I said, I don't know. Flip a U turn really quick and let's go check it out. So as he banked around to the left and came around, I looked down in between just two trees. And sure enough, I spotted Benjamin. And he was just this little kid, just. I think he was crouched down between two rocks or something. And so I said, yep, I'm pretty sure that was him. So we circled around again. And then I said, oh, yeah, there he is. That's definitely him. So obviously we got on the radio and we communicated with the rest of our ground team. And we just continued to circle, just in that one spot. And he was almost. I bet he was 15 yards from the Provo River.

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I sold my car in Carvana last night.

[Benjamin Myrip (child)]

Well, that's cool.

[Carvana Customer]

No, you don't understand. It went perfectly. Real offer down to the penny.

[Jennifer Mulvey]

They're picking it up tomorrow.

[Carvana Customer]

Nothing went wrong.

[Carvana Narrator]

So what's the problem?

[Carvana Customer]

That is the problem. Nothing in my life goes to smoothing.

[Jennifer Mulvey]

I'm waiting for the catch.

[Naomi Jacobs]

Maybe there's no catch.

[Carvana Customer]

That's exactly what a catch would want me to think.

[Naomi Jacobs]

Wow.

[Carvana Narrator]

You need to relax.

[Carvana Customer]

I need to knock on wood.

[Jennifer Mulvey]

Do we have.

[Carvana Customer]

What is this table wood?

[Naomi Jacobs]

I think it's laminate.

[Carvana Customer]

Okay. Yeah, that's good. That's close enough.

[Carvana Narrator]

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[Dave Cawley]

Matthew and Naomi were just about to leave when one of the sheriff's office people waved them down.

[Matthew Myrip]

And they told us to wait. Like, hang on a bit, we might have something. And then. And then just hearing the word that we found him.

[Naomi Jacobs]

And I was like, okay. After that, the, like, I got. I'm still getting. I can't. Like the adrenaline rush came in that like, okay. All the reality that I'd been putting pushing aside all day that he could have been gone forever hit me. And then it was not true and he was found. And it was one of the best moments of my life to get him back.

[Dave Cawley]

The ground team scooped Benjamin up and carried him roughly a mile back to where Matthew and Naomi were waiting. I remember seeing sour expressions turn to smiles as word spread. The volunteers who had stuck around shared cheers, hugs, handshakes, and high fives. The sheriff's office had kept Matthew and Naomi separated from those of us in the news media all day. Now we asked if they might come over and speak to us. They agreed. Naomi carried little Benjamin in her arms.

[Naomi Jacobs]

I just want to thank everyone who came out and looked. The response time was fabulous. And they found my baby and he's fine. This is Mrs. Benjamin. You want to say hi, honey?

[Matthew Myrip]

Hi.

[Naomi Jacobs]

I really. The search and rescue dogs, the people on ATVs, the helicopter pilot who found him and who are searching the skies, the airplanes, everybody. I am just grateful. We are grateful that we have our baby back and he's safe.

[Matthew Myrip]

I can't express the gratitude that I felt for everyone that's here.

[Jennifer Mulvey]

What can you tell us about how he was found?

[Naomi Jacobs]

All I know is that the helicopter pilot found him and just started hovering right there. And then they sent the people in on foot and grabbed him. His uncle was in the search and rescue group and helped get him. And so it was helpful to have him there. He had a familiar person.

[Jennifer Mulvey]

Did he realize he was lost?

[Naomi Jacobs]

Did you know you were lost?

[Dave Cawley]

For years afterwards, I wondered what became of Benjamin following that experience. How had it affected him growing up? So when I contacted Matthew and Naomi several years back and asked to interview them about the search, I also asked if Benjamin might join us. Here's what he remembers about getting lost in the Uinta Triangle.

[Benjamin Myrip (child)]

So I remember the bear hunt game. And I remembered, I mean, in my tiny little brain, we, like, went super far away, but we turned left at one point. And so when I turn around, I turn left again, but it should have gone right. I was just like, this is not the right spot. Let's turn around. And then there's, you know, like. Like a forest. It's just a bunch of forest.

[Dave Cawley]

Rather than stop and wait or calling out for help, Benjamin allowed his curiosity to guide him. He kept walking in search of something familiar, not realizing his steps were taking him ever farther from camp.

[Benjamin Myrip (child)]

I also remember, like, sliding down a

[Dave Cawley]

steep thing, that embankment where the search dogs tried to lead their handlers, who discounted the dogs because they believed they would have seen signs of Benjamin. Tumbling down through the brush and dirt. It's impossible to know exactly where all Benjamin walked during those hours. He was lost.

[Benjamin Myrip (child)]

Like, I was very confused. I lost my shoe. I remember that I tried to use that as a pillow.

[Dave Cawley]

He was only wearing one shoe when rescued. Matthew told me they tried to figure out what happened to the other one

[Matthew Myrip]

when he was first found in three. You know, you could ask him, but he really couldn't speak in full sentences. And, you know, he talked about his dump truck shoe with the flashing lights on it.

[Dave Cawley]

And the shoe's never been found, right?

[Naomi Jacobs]

No, I have the one shoe.

[Dave Cawley]

Do you?

[Naomi Jacobs]

In my memory keepsake box. Yeah.

[Dave Cawley]

Yeah.

[Matthew Myrip]

I even joked with him, we should go up and find your shoe. That'd be a needle in a haystack, that's for sure.

[Dave Cawley]

Literally, because that's Haystack Lake, Right? Yeah, I knew we laugh about it, but Benjamin's close call could have easily gone the other way. If not for the sharp eyes of the search team in the helicopter. He might not have survived. He might still be up there along with his lost shoe. Do you remember being found?

[Benjamin Myrip (child)]

I remember looking up and seeing a helicopter. I'm not sure if they found me or they just. But I remember seeing a helicopter. And then I remember my uncle with some other people coming, and I'm like, people I know. And, yeah, I remember that all you

[Naomi Jacobs]

wanted was scrambled eggs.

[Benjamin Myrip (child)]

That's what I've been told, but I don't remember that. I'm just like. I remember being confused. Like, wait, what happened? Everyone's gone.

[Naomi Jacobs]

Well, because I was making scrambled eggs for breakfast. He's like, I didn't get my scrambled eggs. But, like, all the search and rescue people are like, here's a bar, here's some water, here's some fruit snacks. I want scrambled eggs. I mean, I like eggs.

[Benjamin Myrip (child)]

Wanting to eat just scrambled eggs after a long day does seem like me.

[Dave Cawley]

Benjamin's a bright young man with a good sense of humor. As he grew, his curiosity spawned a love of science and computer programming. His teenage years were full of Minecraft and Dungeons and Dragons. And he told me the experience of getting lost did not spawn a fear of the forest.

[Benjamin Myrip (child)]

I mean, the woods are so cool. It's like they're so big and there could be no accident and there could be one, like, right over there. And it's very cool. But I got lost. I think I feel like I should be scared of the woods, but I'm just like. Like, they're awesome.

[Dave Cawley]

Benjamin's parents are a bit more nuanced in their takeaways from what happened. Matthew learned the importance of teaching kids how to recognize when they are lost and to assist in their own recovery by staying put and calling out for help.

[Matthew Myrip]

He remembers hearing people call his name, but he didn't know to respond. He didn't know what to do.

[Dave Cawley]

Naomi remarried a while later. She and her husband had several more kids. So Benjamin has a bunch of siblings. Whenever Naomi takes them anywhere, she dresses them in matching clothing so she can more easily keep track.

[Naomi Jacobs]

It's affected your wardrobe, that's for dang sure.

[Benjamin Myrip (child)]

That's true. Now we have a bunch of matching shirts. I mean, they're not bad shirts, but they're all matching.

[Dave Cawley]

And when they hike, each person carries a whistle.

[Naomi Jacobs]

The wilderness is something that should be respected. Follow the hiking guidelines and make sure you have the buddy system and make sure that you're prepared.

[Dave Cawley]

One of the photos I took on the day Benjamin got lost captured the moment. Kevin Bardsley, the father of that 12 year old boy who had disappeared three years earlier, learned Benjamin was safe. It shows Kevin embracing a member of the sheriff's office search and rescue team. What a bittersweet moment it must have been for him having helped reunite Benjamin while Kevin's own son remained missing.

[Matthew Myrip]

It's just amazing. All these people care and we were lucky that Benjamin was found because there's so many missing kids, teenagers that never have been found up in the same area. So it's just I can never thank anyone enough for the efforts that they did.

[Naomi Jacobs]

Ben was lost for eight, eight and a half hours. I never would have found him on, on my own. I wouldn't have the amount of people that showed up for just this one little person. They gave up their time, they gave up their energy, they donated gallons of gasoline, they brought food. All the people that came together just to find him. I couldn't imagine my life without him. And I feel like I owe a debt to all these people and I know I can never repay it. I can never go and find every person who looked for him and thank them and pay them back. I just, I can't. So it's this debt of gratitude that I try to repay, but I know I can't. And it's okay because he's here.

[Dave Cawley]

This bonus episode was produced by me, Dave Cawley. Our executive producers are Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittleswax for lemonada Media and Cheryl Worsley for KSL Podcasts. For more on the story of Uinta Triangle, visit our [e-mail] that's uinta spelled u I n T A. Thank you for listening.

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