August Beckwith — a Utah man with autism who was found last week after being missing for more than three weeks — has again disappeared, according to his mother.
On her Facebook account, Lori Beckwith said August Beckwith, 29, was last seen on Dec. 15 near State Street and 2nd Avenue in Salt Lake City. He had recently been released from a hospital following his earlier disappearance, she explained, and had no shoes, no phone and no money.
Salt Lake City police have taken charge of the case, and has listed August Beckwith as missing.
“If anybody knows where he is, please call us so we can find him and get him back with his mom and get him back safe,” Det. Michael Ruff of Salt Lake City police said. The department’s non-emergency number is 801-799-3000.
Lori Beckwith called for volunteers to join the search for her son Tuesday morning. “We know he is immediately seeking resources and we hope to find him again quickly this time,” she wrote. “You can make all the difference.”
In the post, Lori Beckwith also insisted August Beckwith did not run away from her because she was being careless.
“Transitions can be the most dangerous moments — even when there are signs of hope and improvement," she wrote.
Gillan Smith, a licensed psychologist with a therapy practice in Mapleton, said some people with autism have more severe characteristics than others.
Smith explained that people with autism sometimes tend to be rigid in their thinking, so transitional phases like the one August Beckwith was facing — when things become fluid or change quickly — can be especially difficult.
“It just seems to catch people on the autistic spectrum off-guard when something shifts from their normal routine,” he said.
When faced with that kind of stress, Smith said people with autism may look for ways to escape the situation, and those actions may look like defiance.
“They’re not trying to push against society,” he said. “They’re just frankly confused about how to navigate.”
Smith, who has worked with adolescents with autism, added that people with autism find it difficult to interpret social cues, meaning they miss contextual information others can glean from such things as inflection or tone of voice.
He said he has worked with children with autism who will hide in dark closets, where they can find darkness and quiet.
Lori Beckwith said her son has only recently started running away during high-stress periods, typically during major life transitions.
Mirroring Smith’s sentiments, she said the “behavior is not driven by defiance, but by neurological and psychological overwhelm.”
Before fleeing on Monday, August Beckwith first disappeared on Nov. 17, when his last known location was near the University of Utah campus, according to the school’s department of public safety.
He was found on Dec. 10, when someone in the Apollo Burger in Taylorsville asked officers to perform a welfare check, according to Aaron Cheshire with the Taylorsville Police Department. Officers identified August Beckwith and reunited him with his family, Cheshire said.
“We have learned a great deal since August was last missing,” Lori Beckwith said in her Facebook post. “We believe community involvement can make a real difference.”
According to Lori Beckwith, only about 10 people answered her call for volunteers to search for August Beckwith on Tuesday.
“We desperately need more,” she said.