Boy tells of dad's warning before fatal hike

SHOSHONE, Idaho — The brother of a girl who died of hypothermia said Thursday that their father warned them to stay together, be careful and avoid nearby farm fields before the children set out to trek several miles to their mother's house last Christmas Day.

Bear Aragon, 13, testified in the trial of his father, Robert Aragon, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter and felony injury to a child. The 56-year-old laborer is accused of allowing his 11-year-old daughter, Sage, and Bear walk 10 miles in freezing conditions after his car got stuck in a snowdrift.

Sometime after the two started walking, Sage turned around and started hiking back toward the car, Bear testified.

"She got too cold," he said. "Her feet were starting to get numb."

Sage died of hypothermia, and rescuers found her body the next day. Bear, then 12, survived by taking cover in a single-stall restroom at a recreation site.

The boy, who a family member testified has been attending weekly counseling sessions since his sister died, was the prosecution's final witness against Aragon.

The defense rested Thursday after examining a handful of witnesses before a jury of eight women and four men in rural Lincoln County. Both sides were expected to present closing arguments today, when the case will be handed over to the jury to deliberate.

Aragon was driving the children to see their mother on Christmas Day morning when the car hit ice and slid into the snow bank, Bear testified. His father got out of the car and used a small military shovel to dig his 1988 Buick Century free from the snow.

The boy said he decided to set out on his own and walk because he wanted to find help for his father. Sage decided to go with him.

"He said, 'OK, stay together and don't go into the fields,' " Bear testified.

After Sage and Bear began walking, Aragon freed his car from the snowdrift and drove back to their home in Jerome. The children's mother called later to say the children never arrived.

When authorities found the father about 10 p.m. that night, he was searching for the children at the site where the car had become stranded.

A search and rescue team soon found the boy alone at a rest area near the highway, more than 4 miles from where the children started walking.