"He defied the convention. He went way uphill," Christensen said. "Ninety percent of kids who get lost will go downhill, and you will find them within the first hours or a day of a search."

Brennan's journey was about five miles by foot by the time he was found, but he probably spent time going back and forth and testing side paths, stopping for occasional rest, Christensen said.

The boy said he kept two thoughts in mind, both of them instructions from his parents: Never leave a trail and never talk to strangers. So, when strangers on horseback appeared on his trail Tuesday, Brennan pulled off the path and out of view until they passed.

"His biggest fear, he told me, was that someone would steal him," his mother, Jody Hawkins, said Wednesday.

It wasn't until Forrest Nunley surprised Brennan shortly afterward on an ATV that the boy was found. Nunley, a 43-year-old house painter from Salt Lake City, was not part of the organized search and was looking outside designated search areas.

Jody and Toby Hawkins said they do not plan to push Brennan for answers about his time in the woods and referred reporters to Christensen. The couple said their son was born prematurely and described him as immature and a little slow, although not mentally disabled.

"It's going to take a while to get everything out," Toby Hawkins said. "This is how he approaches all situations."

Christensen said he has experienced a wide range of emotion since Friday, from panic to guilt to elation. And he and his wife Michelle are now grateful to the Hawkinses for not blaming them for Brennan's disappearance.

"You are wonderful," they told the Christensens. "We trust you with our lives, and we would do it again."

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E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com