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Micah Smith, a Utah father who endangered the lives of his three young children, leaving them in critical condition after forcing them up a mountain in life-threatening weather, has finally learned his fate.
On November 25, 2025, the 31-year-old was charged after a heartbreaking question from his 8-year-old daughter was captured in harrowing phone footage.
Highlights
- Micah Smith’s “reckless and selfish” mountain hike left his three young children stranded overnight in freezing, stormy conditions.
- Prosecutors say the case reflects the “extreme emotional and psychological harm” endured by the children, as detailed in the indictment.
- Social media users are demanding harsh punishment not only for the accused father but also, unexpectedly, for the children’s mother.
The disturbing details of the incident have sparked intense debate online about parenting, responsibility, and a growing call for “harsh punishment” for Smith.
“Some men out there don’t deserve the name ‘dad.’ Any man can be a ‘father,’ it takes a real man to be a ‘dad.’ I’m not sure what this guy was thinking,” wrote one user.
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Micah Smith had taken his children on a hike in perilous weather conditions, leaving them exposed overnight to freezing temperatures and a heavy downpour
Image credits: Micah Smith/Facebook
On October 11, nearly two months ago, Micah set off for a hike in the Broads Fork Trail area of Big Cottonwood Canyon with his 2-year-old son, 4-year-old son, and 8-year-old daughter.
The trail is generally considered difficult, spanning roughly 4.5 miles roundtrip with a steep elevation gain of more than 2,000 feet.
According to the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office, the family left home around 9 a.m. and reached the summit at about 6 p.m., just as the weather “turned into mist, fog, rain, and hail.”
Despite descending roughly 600 feet, the father and his children were left stranded as they became caught in heavy downpour.
Image credits: ABC4 Utah
The group was reported missing by Smith’s wife, and rescue teams eventually located the children, who were reportedly abandoned by their father, in the early hours of October 12.
Two of the children were found in critical condition, as Smith later admitted to Search and Rescue (SAR) team members that the 2-year-old had fallen and hit his head.
SAR members stated that when Micah encountered them alone, he told rescuers that the toddler was “d**d.”
According to official reports, the statement was partially true, as the child had likely lost consciousness and stopped breathing, prompting the 31-year-old father to perform CPR until the child began “breathing on his own.”
Authorities allege that the father abandoned his children, despite his 2-year-old son being severely injured and reportedly not breathing at one point
Image credits: FOX 13 News Utah
All three children were transported to Primary Children’s Hospital, along with Micah, who also sustained injuries during the ordeal.
However, he was arrested on November 25 and is currently being held in the Salt Lake County Jail without bail.
The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office has charged him with three counts each of child t**ture and aggravated child a**se, all first-degree felonies.
Image credits: FOX 13 News Utah
The arrest followed the discovery of a chilling recording captured during the hike, in which the young girl is heard asking her father, moments before he allegedly abandoned her and her younger brothers, “Are we going to freeze to d**th, Daddy?”
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill issued a public statement shortly after the charges were announced, explaining, “This is about the emotional and psychological harm. The way that he acted was in a depraved manner that caused emotional harm.”
Prosecutors say the charges against Smith “adequately reflect” the extent of the “emotional and psychological harm” inflicted on his three children
Image credits: ABC4 Utah
“Given the context and how it unfolded… we believe that [the charges] adequately reflect the analysis by the screening team.”
Several followers of the case expressed outrage not only toward Micah but also toward his wife, accusing both parents of being “neglectful.”
One user wrote, “I really feel like he intended to return from the hike alone…. I think it is pretty obvious.”
Another remarked, “Tragic reminder that anyone can have children but it takes a compassionate human being to be a parent.”
Image credits: ABC4 Utah
A third added, “Both parents should be charged… I want to know where mom was and why were her 2 and 4 year old allowed to go on such a long strenuous hike.”
According to Micah’s indictment, “What seemed like an innocent hike with his three children quickly turned into a nightmare when the defendant chose to summit a mountain over the safety of the kids.”
The document continued, “The defendant refused to turn around when their mom told him to turn around and get the children home. He also refused to turn around when [his daughter] said to him that she was scared and that they should go.”
“I wonder if he’s ab**ive to his wife as well and if this was some sort of punishment for her… So many questions here,” echoed social media users
Image credits: ABC4 Utah
“During the 24-hour ordeal, the victims expressed that they were cold, tired, and wanted to go home. The defendant, who is supposed to be the protector of his children, was ill-prepared and extremely selfish.”
Micah, however, denied the allegations of negligence, claiming he brought food and supplies, including “jerky, cans of tuna, five waters, pretzels, Cliff bars, candy, and a Gatorade,” and insisted he was prepared for the hike.
Charging documents also outlined how severely the children suffered as temperatures dropped and the weather worsened.
The young girl also revealed that she had to “keep [her four-year-old brother] warm,” while her father tried to “keep [her two-year-old brother] warm” using their body heat.
The 31-year-old has been charged with three counts each of child t**ture and aggravated child a**se, and is being held without bail
Image credits: ABC4 Utah
According to the indictment, “Their teeth were chattering and their clothes were wet. [The daughter] stated that one of her brothers had hypothermia, and she ran to her brother with hypothermia and ‘hugged him tight to try and make him a little warmer,’ and she ‘had to breathe into his mouth’ and ‘push on his chest.’”
Apart from the hiking incident, Smith was previously found trespassing on November 10 at Primary Children’s Hospital after he allegedly interfered with his 4-year-old son’s medical care.
He was accused of “tampering with the equipment,” including heart and lung bypass machines that were keeping the child alive at the time.
On December 2, during the first court hearing, a protective order was issued preventing Smith from having any contact with his children until further notice.
His next court appearance is scheduled for December 8 before Judge Elizabeth A. Hruby-Mills, as part of the proceedings to determine his detention status. A trial date has not yet been set.
“Someone needs to be a responsible adult for these poor kids. There is no excuse… This man needs to stay away from these children,” wrote one concerned netizen
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What do you think ?
Nova Rook 1 day ago
What did the kid say? BP has far too much filler and there's no way I'm wading through all the social media comments just to find the content they promised.
Serena Myers 1 day ago
Apparently he took his three children on a 9 mile hike (4.5 miles each way) The youngest was 2 years old, the next was 4 years old, the daughter 8 years old. They left at 09:00 and didn't reach the "summit" until 18:00 (6 p.m). Daughter asked, again, allegedly, "Are we going to freeze to deāth Daddy?" 2 year old was injured at some point. Well, like you, I can't be bothered to read all the comments, but I think this was the general gist?
Load More Replies...
Multa Nocte 1 day ago (edited)
I used to live in the same town and hiked those same mountains. There is no way in hell children that age should have been taken on that hike, and I come from a family of hardcore mountaineering enthusiasts.
Grace Knowlton 1 day ago
If it was just the hike I might think that he was negligence for taking the kids on a hike like that, but the fact he was tampering with the machine keeping his children alive is what makes me feel like he had no intention of returning home with the kids.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 1 day ago
Intentionally taking a TWO-YEAR-OLD TODDLER and a 4-year-old child on a trail rated "hard" by ADULT hikers isn't "negligence" or "ignorance". It was a deliberate choice. Places like that ALWAYS have signs posted with guidelines for the trails/hikes and their "ratings". Even if he wasn't *initially* planning on taking his children onto the Broads Fork Trail, he CHOSE to take that trail with a 9-year-old and two toddlers. That isn't negligence, that's intentional abúse. He can't be all "herp derp I am innocent, I had NO IDEA that it was such a difficult trail!" The trails at Big Cottonwood Canyon have signs/guides/ruleboards. I haven't been there myself, but a 30-second Google search showed me pics of the signs. There's NO way he was ignorant of the trail's difficulty.
Load More Replies...
Bi.Felicia 1 day ago
Those poor beautiful babies, so thankful that they have survived this awful tragedy, at the hands of their father. I hope that they are able to recover both physically and especially mentally. Hopefully therapy in all forms will help them to be able to lead happy and healthy lives, as they grow up. Such strong and amazing little fighters, especially the 8 year old fighting to keep herself and little brothers alive, especially the 4 year old. I hope that sad excuse for a father and a man gets everything he deserves and then some, he's an absolutely disgusting, evil fûck.
Bi.Felicia 1 day ago (edited)
So I just read a news story about this case from yesterday Dec 2, 2025 that said The four-year-old is still in the hospital. Investigators said his body temperature when he arrived at the hospital was 62.6 degrees. They said he had a stroke requiring part of his skull to be removed and a drain to be placed. Also a few weeks after this happened (Oct 11/12), the father was charged with domestic violence, in addition to the 6 child tórtûre and endangerment charges. Clearly this man has some serious mental health issues and he's extremely dangerous.Fortunately he's been booked into jail without bail. He has also been issued a protective order preventing him from contacting his children in any way. Let's hope it stays that way.
Load More Replies... Otto Katz 1 day ago
Where was Mom while this was going on? Why did he take the kids without her on this dangerous for little kids hike alone? As someone in the comments said, did he plan on leaving them there alone?
LakotaWolf (she/her) 1 day ago
Otto, a horrible human being like Micah probably had zero compunctions about lying to his wife about where he was taking the kids. Maybe he told her they were just going on a picnic at the park, or on an easy one-hour hike, or to the beach, or to the toy store - who knows? I'm not saying that Mom is absolutely for-sure innocent of any responsibility, as I don't KNOW what happened and I don't know where she was while this was going on (except she wasn't with them on the hike; the indictment said she was repeatedly texting him asking what was going on, and then once she found out, demanding that he "turn around and bring the kids home", which he obviously didn't.) But, for all we know, he lied to his wife in the first place about what he and the kids were doing that day and thus she would have no reason to be suspicious, at first.
Load More Replies... Nova Rook 1 day ago
What did the kid say? BP has far too much filler and there's no way I'm wading through all the social media comments just to find the content they promised.
Serena Myers 1 day ago
Apparently he took his three children on a 9 mile hike (4.5 miles each way) The youngest was 2 years old, the next was 4 years old, the daughter 8 years old. They left at 09:00 and didn't reach the "summit" until 18:00 (6 p.m). Daughter asked, again, allegedly, "Are we going to freeze to deāth Daddy?" 2 year old was injured at some point. Well, like you, I can't be bothered to read all the comments, but I think this was the general gist?
Load More Replies... Multa Nocte 1 day ago (edited)
I used to live in the same town and hiked those same mountains. There is no way in hell children that age should have been taken on that hike, and I come from a family of hardcore mountaineering enthusiasts.
Grace Knowlton 1 day ago
If it was just the hike I might think that he was negligence for taking the kids on a hike like that, but the fact he was tampering with the machine keeping his children alive is what makes me feel like he had no intention of returning home with the kids.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 1 day ago
Intentionally taking a TWO-YEAR-OLD TODDLER and a 4-year-old child on a trail rated "hard" by ADULT hikers isn't "negligence" or "ignorance". It was a deliberate choice. Places like that ALWAYS have signs posted with guidelines for the trails/hikes and their "ratings". Even if he wasn't *initially* planning on taking his children onto the Broads Fork Trail, he CHOSE to take that trail with a 9-year-old and two toddlers. That isn't negligence, that's intentional abúse. He can't be all "herp derp I am innocent, I had NO IDEA that it was such a difficult trail!" The trails at Big Cottonwood Canyon have signs/guides/ruleboards. I haven't been there myself, but a 30-second Google search showed me pics of the signs. There's NO way he was ignorant of the trail's difficulty.
Load More Replies... Bi.Felicia 1 day ago
Those poor beautiful babies, so thankful that they have survived this awful tragedy, at the hands of their father. I hope that they are able to recover both physically and especially mentally. Hopefully therapy in all forms will help them to be able to lead happy and healthy lives, as they grow up. Such strong and amazing little fighters, especially the 8 year old fighting to keep herself and little brothers alive, especially the 4 year old. I hope that sad excuse for a father and a man gets everything he deserves and then some, he's an absolutely disgusting, evil fûck.
Bi.Felicia 1 day ago (edited)
So I just read a news story about this case from yesterday Dec 2, 2025 that said The four-year-old is still in the hospital. Investigators said his body temperature when he arrived at the hospital was 62.6 degrees. They said he had a stroke requiring part of his skull to be removed and a drain to be placed. Also a few weeks after this happened (Oct 11/12), the father was charged with domestic violence, in addition to the 6 child tórtûre and endangerment charges. Clearly this man has some serious mental health issues and he's extremely dangerous.Fortunately he's been booked into jail without bail. He has also been issued a protective order preventing him from contacting his children in any way. Let's hope it stays that way.
Load More Replies... Otto Katz 1 day ago
Where was Mom while this was going on? Why did he take the kids without her on this dangerous for little kids hike alone? As someone in the comments said, did he plan on leaving them there alone?
LakotaWolf (she/her) 1 day ago
Otto, a horrible human being like Micah probably had zero compunctions about lying to his wife about where he was taking the kids. Maybe he told her they were just going on a picnic at the park, or on an easy one-hour hike, or to the beach, or to the toy store - who knows? I'm not saying that Mom is absolutely for-sure innocent of any responsibility, as I don't KNOW what happened and I don't know where she was while this was going on (except she wasn't with them on the hike; the indictment said she was repeatedly texting him asking what was going on, and then once she found out, demanding that he "turn around and bring the kids home", which he obviously didn't.) But, for all we know, he lied to his wife in the first place about what he and the kids were doing that day and thus she would have no reason to be suspicious, at first.
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