Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS)

Escape from Horizon Academy. The student nearly died

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Oscar:
19-year-old man found safe in Southern Nevada desert, Las Vegas sun

There is a reason that they have placed the "school" in the desert.

Anonymous:
This man seems to be as retarded as he looks in that picture. He was over 18 and could of got a ride to town at the very least if he had told them he wanted to leave instead of just walking away. Why wasn't he captured and brought back? Because he was over 18. Anybody in a program passed the age of 18 chooses to be there, unless they are court ordered, which is rare.

Ursus:

--- Quote from: "Guest" ---This man seems to be as retarded as he looks in that picture. He was over 18 and could of got a ride to town at the very least if he had told them he wanted to leave instead of just walking away. Why wasn't he captured and brought back? Because he was over 18. Anybody in a program passed the age of 18 chooses to be there, unless they are court ordered, which is rare.
--- End quote ---
He may or may not have other difficulties which were not mentioned in the news article. There is no reason a news article needs to go into a person's entire medical history for the benefit of the readers. On the other hand, that information may have been withheld from the media by the family and/or Horizon Academy for a myriad of other reasons. At any rate, all that is pure speculation at this point.

As to his age? There are carrots aplenty that can be held out to convince a person that they need to continue in a program past the age of 18. One of those, amongst the many, could be the need for graduating from high school. There are also potential consequences that can be proffered, entirely separate from the circumstances of a court order, in order to convince a person that they need to stay in a program. To characterize all those as strictly a matter of "personal choice" is a tad shortsighted, not to mention more than a little misleading.

Oscar:
I would not call him retarded. Yes, he is suffering from an illness that enables him to make desicions before thinking twice, but he is not alone. They should have calmed him down by calling his parents to the school at once, so they could take it from there.

As for him being 18. I don't know with Nevada but in Idaho the importance of jobs in the teenager confinement business has meant that extended custody to the age of 21 is only a rubberstamp away if the program owners clears the size of the wallet the family comes with.

Ursus:
A news piece from when Diego Arteaga went missing:

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Las Vegas SUN
19-year-old man missing in Southern Nevada desert

By Mary Manning
Thursday, Aug. 13, 2009 | 4:29 p.m.


Diego Arteaga

Diego Arteaga had been attending a camp in the Amargosa Valley desert for about a year when he decided to walk away on Monday.

Arteaga, 19, son of Dr. Albert Arteaga and Maria Arteaga, of San Bernardino, Calif., has not been seen since he started walking to Pahrump in Nye County -- a distance of roughly 60 miles.

Camp counselors tried to stop the young man, who suffers from attention deficit disorder (ADD) and can be impulsive, Albert Arteaga said on Thursday. He left the camp wearing a white dress shirt and khaki shorts, his father said.

He carried no identification, cell phone, money or water.

"We are extremely worried," Albert Arteaga said Thursday afternoon. "I'm worried not only for my son, but for my wife, who is taking this extremely hard."

His mother believes Diego may be heading to Redlands, Calif., where he has friends and family.

"Diego, we love you very much," his mother said in a statement. "You are not in trouble. Do not be afraid. We want you to come home. We miss you and are afraid for your safety. We are looking for you. Please call home or the nearest police or sheriff."

His parents filed a missing person's report with the Nye County Sheriff's Office and his description and photo went out across the region.

One caller reported seeing someone walking in the desert south of Amargosa Valley on Monday and another report put him inside a Pahrump casino, but neither report panned out, said family friend Carl Dameron.

"Even though he is 19 years old, his parents are frantic," Dameron said this afternoon.

Albert Arteaga said he is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the safe whereabouts of his son.

Anyone who sees Diego Arteaga is asked to call Deputy Ray Robert with the Nye County Sheriff's Office at (775) 372-5345, or in California, the San Bernardino County Sheriff at 911 or a local law enforcement agency.


© Las Vegas Sun, 2009

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