Southern Utah Mother Horrified After Child is Left Stranded During School Field Trip

On April 29, a 9-year-old girl named Candice was enjoying a field trip along with other students of a private academy in Southern Utah. The destination was Kaibab National Forest where students would participate in activities related to geology; However, Candice would have to look for far more than just rocks at the end of the field trip. 

For the sake of privacy for Candice’s family and all those involved, some names of people and locations have been omitted from this article. I spoke with Candice’s mother who detailed the traumatic experience of when Candice was left stranded in Kaibab National Forest after her teacher failed to take roll call. 

Candice’s mom said, “It was kind of a spur of the moment trip. One of the teachers that was over the trip, her dad does logging up on Kaibab and they were going to look at his logging operation, and so they head out there. They also had another chaperone with them who finds a lot of rocks and knows all about them.” 

Over a dozen students traveled in two separate vans to see the logging operation and collect various rocks across the area. Once the day’s activities had concluded, the teacher called for everyone to return to the vans. Candice unfortunately went the wrong way as she was returning to the vehicles. 

Candice’s mom said, “She thought she was headed towards the vehicle, and she headed in the wrong direction. She did hear a horn honk. I guess they blew the whistle and honked the horn four or five times for all the students. She did hear one of the honks and so it kind of got her pointed more in the right direction. So, she started walking back and then she realized she went up on little hill to get her bearings, but she still couldn’t find the vehicle.” 

Candice continued to search for the van she arrived in with no avail. It was then Candice decided to switch gears and look for anyone else in the area. She remembered some campers that were traveling down a road, so she found said road and started to walk in the direction the campers were headed. 

Meanwhile in front of the academy, Candice’s mother was waiting for her daughter to return to the school to take her home. As the two vans arrived at the private school, the mom couldn’t help but wonder where her daughter was.  

Candice’s mom said, “They got to school, and I was waiting to pick her up and I didn’t see her get out. So, he [the driver] dropped everybody off, and then he waited for a minute, and he asked somebody if Candice got her rocks out. Somebody piped up and said, ‘oh yeah, she got them, you can go now.’” 

As for why nobody noticed Candice was missing during any point of the trip home, it can only be chalked up to a mix of negligence and unfortunate circumstances. 

Back to Candice, she was walking down the road with no sign of campers she was searching for. Despite her situation, Candice didn’t give up. She knew that if she kept walking down that road, she would at least find someone who could give her a way to contact her parents.  

Candice tried to signal a passing truck to stop, but she was unfortunately ignored. The 9-year-old girl continued down that road for about two hours before she finally found the campers she’d been looking for.  

The two older campers saw Candice as she kept her distance and informed them of her situation. Luckily, the campers happened to have a cell phone, so Candice told them her dad’s phone number which she had memorized. 

Candice’s dad was surprised to learn of his daughter’s predicament, and he asked Candice about the area she was in. 

After a few hours, Candice returned home safely to her parents with no injuries to speak of. Candice’s mom was relieved to say the least, but she couldn’t help but feel upset over the protocol the teacher took during the field trip, more specifically, her lack of roll call. 

Candice’s mom said, “That teacher, I’ve had concerns with her in the past because she doesn’t seem to have the children’s best interest. She doesn’t like to take responsibility, or we’ve had other things where she couldn’t make accommodations for particular students just for the reason that she wanted to do it different.” 

The mom said the teacher shifted the blame onto Candice when she was abandoned in Kaibab National Forest because she went out of view of the van. This is despite most of the other adults and children being out of view from the van during the field trip as well. 

Candice’s mom said, “Why didn’t you just take roll call? And she said that somebody told her she was there. I said she was an adult, and she still just wants to blame somebody else. That’s the most frustrating part to me is her lack of responsibility.” 

According to Candice’s mother, the teacher will be leaving at the end of the school year, but not because of this incident. She said the teacher hasn’t been reprimanded for her actions. 

To close, Candice and her mom both stated they have no issue with the academy itself. The mom said she admires the academy director and all they’ve done in the past for the school, but she did find the lack of punishment for the teacher frustrating. 

Despite the traumatic experience, Candice seemed to be in good spirits when she returned home to her family. Candice even said she thought the two campers were funny because they were surprised to see someone like her. She also asked me if anyone still reads newspapers, and I said old people certainly do, which made her laugh. If the 9-year-old is still able to smile, then I think everything will be OK. 

Thank you to Candice and her mom for speaking with me about this unfortunate experience.