U.S.

Dead Boy's Dad Passes Test

November 1, 2000 / 6:39 AM EST / AP

The father of a 2-year-old boy who froze to death in a Utah forest passed a lie-detector test in which he denied intentionally leaving the toddler to die, investigators said.

Paul Wayment left his son, Gage, alone in his pickup Oct. 26 while he scouted a private hunting area in northeastern Utah. When Wayment returned to his truck 40 minutes to an hour later, his son had vanished, he said.

After four days of unsuccessful searches, James Wilkes, a volunteer rescuer, found Gage's body on Oct. 31 under 2 to 4 inches of snow. Wilkes said he carried the body for at least two hours before becoming exhausted and leaving it behind. The body was recovered the next day.

During the polygraph, Wayment denied doing anything to cause the death of the boy and having any association with Wilkes. The test indicated Wayment was truthful, Summit County Sheriff's Lt. Joe Offret said.

Officers were expected to forward the results of their investigation to the Summit County attorney's office, and prosecutors will decide whether any charges will be filed.

The medical examiner did not determine when the boy died, but temperatures had been below freezing every night since he was reported missing.

The feet on the boy's pajamas were worn through and he had a scratch on his face but no other injuries. It's evidence consistent with the child walking through the brush.

Wilkes told police the boy was in a fetal position, lying uphill, when found.

There was no explanation for how the little boy got so far away from the truck that hundreds of searchers and dogs couldn't find him.

And there has been no explanation why Wayment, who neighbors and relatives say cared greatly for his son, left the boy unattended.

Wayment was awarded temporary custody of the boy in June and a review hearing was to have been held within the next two months. His former wife was stripped of custody of all six of her children from four marriages.

"I know what my brother did was not the best," Wayment's sister, Valerie Burke, has said. "But that little boy was absolutely his whole life. He's not the irresponsible terrible person that a lot of people are concluding."