Autistic man survives 3-week ordeal in Utah desert

Utah authorities say a 28-year-old autistic man from Colorado has been found emaciated but alive after enduring at least three weeks with almost no food in a southern Utah desert.

Garfield County sheriff's deputies found William Martin LaFever of Colorado Springs on Thursday.

Deputies say LaFever told them he ate frogs and roots and drank river water while trying to walk from Boulder, Utah, to Page, Ariz. They estimate he walked 40 miles.

LaFever's family reported him missing Monday. Officials say the family last heard from him on June 6 or 7, when he called to say he was hiking in Boulder but was out of money.

Authorities say LaFever's father told him to get a ride to Page where the family would send money. LaFever apparently decided to walk.

The Associated Press