Does wildnerness therapy help troubled kids? After a gang of teenagers staged a violent mutiny in the badlands of Utah, we joined the search for answers.

Tavis Coburn

Sheriff's office press release, Iron County, Utah, 8 A.M., December 5, 1999: "On Saturday, December 4... eight male juveniles, students at RedCliff Ascent, a wilderness-based youth custody facility, assaulted and overpowered their camp counselors, tied at least one of them up, and escaped into the hostile West desert of southern Utah.... At dark Saturday night, one of the youths had been caught after he stopped running because of an apparent illness; the other seven youths are listed as still at large."

Marty Stock, 23, Redcliff Head Instructor: "I was hit hard in the back of the head but I thought it was an accident. I spun around and there was one of the kids winding up again. Grand slam. I figured it out right then. They were all in on it. I knew I had to take this kid out fast but then they jumped me and started pounding me on the head with sticks. I was moving and ducking. I pulled one guy down on top of me to use him as a shield but another kid was teeing off on my legs, trying to break them. I was running through the scenarios. I realized it was bad. The other counselor, Sunshine, might get away and radio for help, but then they might overtake her and hurt her. If I kept fighting she would keep fighting and then they would have to hurt her."

Sunshine Fuller, 22, Redcliff Counselor: "I thought they were wrestling at first, then I saw the boy swinging the stick at Marty. I threw my arms around the two kids sitting beside me and pulled them down to the ground in a bear hug. Then there was someone coming behind me and I heard Marty yelling, 'Sunny, don't fight! Don't fight!' They bound our hands and feet with parachute cord and duct tape. They hog-tied Marty and left him on the ground and tied me to a tree. The whole time they were tying us up they were apologizing. They kept saying it was nothing personal. They're just smart enough to be stupid. I think they only wanted to go home."

Iron County Sheriff David "Dude" Benson: "Our objectives are threefold: One, catch the kids and see that they're punished; two, protect the lives and property of our citizens; three, provide for the welfare of the kids 'cause they've done some dumb stuff here, but they are still just kids. It might do them good to spend a night out in the cold, maybe that and an empty stomach will encourage them to turn themselves in."

Marty Stock: "It was definitely premeditated. We had this inkling from the beginning. You get a feel with a group. The ringleader never hit me. He just watched. While they were tying us up we told them to take water, take food, take sleeping bags, take warm clothes, take the water purification drops. But they were scared out of their minds. They were frantic. They were trying to act tough, but they were panicking. They said the reason they hit me in the head was they were trying to knock me out. I said they sure did a piss-poor job of it and they said it was harder than it looked in the movies. After they fled, I rolled across the ground and recovered a Swiss Army knife from under the tarp. Sunny opened it with her teeth and I eventually cut my hands free."