Parents Lose 3-Year-Old in Corn Maze, Don't Notice Until Next Morning

Two Utah parents have been reunited with their 3-year-old son after unknowingly leaving him at a corn maze overnight and not realizing it until the next morning.

The father, Robert, who asked the The Salt Lake Tribune not to use his last name, said that while he has plural families (meaning he is polygamous), that has nothing to do with why one of his sons went missing on Monday.

Robert said that his wife called him in a panic on Tuesday morning when she realized their son was not at home while their other 13 children were getting ready for school.

Robert said that his wife took 11 of their 14 kids to the Crazy Corn Maze with her sister and two or three of her sister's kids on Monday, Oct. 9. He says the combined families piled into multiple cars.

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As the family was leaving, Robert says his wife bucked the youngest children into their car seats, including the 3-year-old boy. The other children asked if they could have the free donuts someone was giving away at the maze, and she said yes.

The other children got out of the car and waited in line for 15 minutes. Robert's wife waited in the car and thought the 3-year-old was in the car with her.

"During that 15 minutes, he must have jumped out," Robert said.

After that, Robert's wife and her sister took the kids back to the house where they watched a scary movie and some fell asleep. Her sister left with her kids.

Robert gave many reasons as to why the child went unaccounted for overnight: the outing was atypical for the family; he worked until 9:30 p.m.; the 3-year-old boy typically sleeps with another family member not in his own bed.

Meanwhile, a woman visiting the corn maze found the toddler around 7:30 p.m. Monday. The police were called, and when no one could find the parents, the Utah Division of Child and Family Services took the boy overnight.

West Jordan police Sgt. Joe Monson said the mother called to report the boy missing at 7:42 a.m. Tuesday.

Robert said he and his wife cooperated with DCFS workers when asked about why the boy was left behind and said there may be more follow-up interviews. More than anything, he says he's relieved.

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"I'm mostly relieved," he told The Salt Lake Tribune on Thursday. "It's nice that there were people there that were able to help. The first outcome that we want is for him to be OK and safe."

"It was an oversight that we learned a lot from," he added.