Edmunds said Brennan's parents told his office at the beginning of the search that their son has attention deficit disorder and that there have been occasions where he has gotten lost simply walking from the bus stop to his house. But they did not know their son would try to hide from searchers, he said.

Brennan's parents said he was born prematurely and takes time to process things. That's why, they said, they aren't pressing him for information.

He doesn't remember going camping, they said.

Jody Hawkins said Brennan acts younger than his age and isn't as socially mature as other boys his age.

"He has the capacity to do anything that he wants to do," Toby Hawkins said. "He's not retarded, just slow."

Toby Hawkins committed himself to searching for Brennan with every waking moment, said friend Martin Christensen, who Brennan had travelled with to the Uintas.

"That man did not sleep for five days," Christensen said.

Eventually, Sheriff Edmunds said, there is a lot he would like to find out from Brennan. Did he see the searchlight or helicopter that were in the area? If so, did he know they were for him? Why did he walk uphill? Did he hear his mother's voice calling to him over a megaphone?

"I want to know if in the future the mother needs to talk longer," Edmunds said. "There are so many things I want to know."

Despite the questions, Edmunds said Wednesday that he and his office were still in a state of euphoria over Brennan's safe return.

The sheriff said the reunion between Brennan and his parents is one of the most touching things he's ever seen.

Toby Hawkins said he was searching a section of river when a searcher with a radio came over and said, "We need to get you to a road or a vehicle for transportation. If everything I'm hearing on the radio is accurate, they have found Brennan."

"Is he alive?" Toby asked.

"He's alive," the man said.

At the same time, Jody Hawkins was summoned to a sheriff's vehicle and collapsed before getting in, certain she was about to be told her son had been found dead.

"I, at that point, didn't think Brennan was still with us," she said.

Instead, she was told Brennan had been found alive. And he was in good shape.

"My brain still cannot comprehend that," she said.

His parents say it was like a dream to see Brennan again. They embraced him and sat with their son while they waited for more rescuers. Brennan joked with his parents and they talked a bit.

Toby asked Brennan what he did during the time he was lost.

He prayed, he told them.

Then his personality showed through his dehydrated exterior.

Brennan asked if his Pokemon cards had arrived in the mail yet.

Cameron Hawkins, 12, is 18 months older than Brennan and says his brother is his normal self.

Added sister Mariah, 19, "He seems like the same Brennan."

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E-mail: preavy@desnews.com; jdougherty@desnews.com