A Winter Death Knell

What happened today could very well be a death knell for my son. The system does not care. The system is broken.

I received a call shortly after 5AM that my son has been arrested in south Salt Lake county for trespassing. My morning was talking with dispatch, one of the officers, and communicating to the rest of the family. My son has a mental illness and is homeless. When he was arrested they confiscated his backpack and sent it to the PD evidence room because he couldn’t bring it with him for booking at metro jail. I called the Metro Jail to try intervening and was on hold for more than an hour. In that time they completed processing him and “released him” (let him walk out) without a phone, without transportation, no money, and without his belongings. When I spoke to a person at the jail he had been released for more than 30 minutes. I spent the rest of the morning driving around looking for him, and couldn’t find him. I ended up buying a new backpack, warm clothing, a blanket and food so that I could give it to him if I found him. He will be outside tonight without his things. The PD office won’t open to the public until Monday so even if he was able to get down there again he wouldn’t be able to get his stuff.

I am broken. I’m overwhelmed because I don’t know where he is and I’m worried about his safety. This is what it’s like to have a family member with a mental illness.

Timeline

Sunday, Dec 14

5:15 AM – Received call from Riverton Police (I was asleep) that my son was arrested at approximately 5:12AM on Sunday Dec 14, 2025. He was in a construction site, likely trying to stay warm. He has a warrant for arrest (I didn’t know he had a warrant, I’m guessing this is due to a failure to appear for his previous trespass in SLC).

10 AM: Salt Lake Valley Communications Center (Dispatch) took my information and will have an officer call

10:14 AM: Officer callback. My son was charged with interfering with police (borderline resisting arrest). He walked up to a car with an undercover officer at the construction site, and asked for a cigarette; he was initially confrontational when the undercover officer turned on his police lights, and was swearing at the officer. This is why they charged him with interference. He was handcuffed, and “easier to deal with” after that. Note that my son is typically cooperative in police interactions.

• I’m surprised that he told them to call me. He typically doesn’t want me involved in things.
• The backpack is in Riverton PD (office is closed for the weekend). We will need to call and schedule with technician to retrieve his property.
• I am informed that the jail will typically discharge after processing (later in the day)

10:22 AM: Attempt to call the Salt Lake Metro Jail. My call is disconnected unexpectly while in queue (twice); will try again later.

10:29 AM: Attempt to call the Salt Lake Metro Jail. The hold time: 58 minutes. I wanted to ask:

• Is it possible for a Clinical Mental Health Therapist to refer him to a mandatory hold for mental illness? He is a danger to self due to inability to care.
• Otherwise, will he be held in jail for a court appearance, or released?

10:41 AM: (While on hold with the Metro Jail) Email to admin@rivertonpd.org with info sourced from rivertonutah.gov/police to request that we obtain my son’s backpack from Riverton PD. Email bounced (email not valid). I forwarded to admin@rivertonutah.gov, ask them to fix the bad information on their site.

11:30 AM: Agent for the Metro Jail picks up, takes information. My son was released on his own recognizance at 10:55 AM – literally while I was on the phone trying to reach the jail.

11:55 AM: I drive down to Salt Lake Metro jail. I don’t see my son anywhere. While in the parking lot, I call Riverton PD and it goes to voicemail. I leave a message that I need to get my son’s backpack.

12 PM to 3 PM: I’m driving east-west on 3300 South, and north-south on Redwood Road looking for where my son may be. I stop at a store to pick up another backpack, warm clothing, an outdoor blanket, towelettes, cigarettes and food. At the end I drive through a couple areas where I have seen him before, but am unable to find him.

3:30 PM: I prep the backpack so that I can hand it to him if I find him. He doesn’t need to unpack anything, it will be ready for him to take.

I check for activity on his debit card and his SNAP card to see if I can locate him based on transactions. There is no activity. I don’t know if he has his cards and ID with him after they took his backpack. He does not have a phone.

I’m second-guessing myself, but I buy a Tile Pro to place on his backpack. In the event that I give it to him I may be able to at least know where he is, for as long as he has the backpack. It’s not hidden. This wouldn’t help me find him today if he already had one, but I may be able to use it in the future to locate him.

9 PM: No update. I’m hoping to hear from him, that he will stop by the house. At this point I don’t know where to look to find him. He could be downtown. He could have tried to walk back to south Salt Lake county, or just got on Trax.

Monday, Dec 15

I have not yet heard from, or found my son.

8:19 AM: Contacted Riverton PD and was routed to voicemail for the Evidence Manager. An appointment is required to pick up the backpack. I made the request and am waiting for a call back.

11:44 AM: Called the Riverton PD Evidence Manager again, went to voicemail (again). I stated that whatever was in the backpack is probably stuff that my homeless son needs to survive on the streets. I’m still waiting for a call back.

12:51 PM: Got the call back. I’m heading over to pick up my son’s backpack.

1:16 PM: The back pack has been retrieved. It had his social security card and his SNAP card. Now all that’s left is to find my son.

Thursday, Dec 18

9:54 AM: Call from Mountain America Credit Union, it’s my son. He wants to know if anything came in the mail for him because he’s trying to get a replacement debit card. I head down to his location, and we are unable to get a new card issued because he doesn’t have any valid ID with him. I have multiple expired IDs with his picture with me. I have my letter of Guardianship. They will not issue a replacement debit without a valid ID.

My son agrees to go with me to the DMV so that we can get a new ID issued for him. We get the ID, then to my bank so I can pull some money out for him, then return to his Credit Union so that we can (finally) get the replacement debit card issued. While there I deposit funds to his account so there is some money for him. I am also able to return his SNAP card and his Social Security Card, which were both in the backpack at the Riverton PD. I don’t know what happened to his original state ID or his debit cards.

He accepts the new backpack, but doesn’t want the jacket or the blanket I brought – he says it’s too much to carry around with him. He asks me to drop him off at the library because that’s where he wants to go. We finish up by just after 12PM and I let him go.

Saturday, Dec 20

1 AM: My son rings the front doorbell in the middle of the night. He wants to know if I can take him down to the police department to resolve his tickets. I tell him that the offices are closed, and we need to go down during the week when they are open. I encourage him to come back in a couple of days, or to call me where I can meet him so we can work things out. He does not have his backpack but at the hour I don’t notice, and only realize after he is gone.

10:30AM: I call the Huntsman Mental Health Institute to qualify when a mandatory commitment can be decided through their crisis intervention team. The person states that there is no condition other than “immediate harm to self or others” that might qualify. A wellness check can always be requested, but my son’s location would need to be known. Gabe’s vulnerability is his inability to care for himself, and his avoidance of shelters. He is currently sleeping outdoors on the ground and has no coat, and no blanket.

Monday, Dec 22

I confirm with the Riverton PD that their case went to Herriman Justice Court, and will not be adjudicated by Riverton. I contact Herriman Justice Court and confirm there are two case numbers pending disposition for Gabriel. I will travel down to Herriman Justice Court Clerk’s office to see what I can find out, but am hoping to bring Gabriel with me.

Gabriel does not come by during the week

Saturday, Dec 27

6:50 PM: It’s my son’s birthday. He stops by to ask if it’s his birthday, and laughs when I confirm that it is. I Invite him into the house, and he opens a card sent from his grandmother. There is money in the card, which he takes, but he doesn’t bother to read the card. I ask him if he’s going to read it and he says he can’t read. I offer to read it to him but he says no.

I give him a couple of packs of cigarettes, which he takes. He goes out to the front step to smoke. I call his grandmother and make some food in the microwave. He comes back in and sits down to eat. He partially converses with his grandparents on the phone. He is laughing, he has some ticks/clicks, and he has a cough.

I ask him about shelters and he says he just wants to sleep in the house tonight. I tell him he can’t stay here (past violence). He asks if I knew he was tased by South Jordan police. I ask him if he was talking about the time he walked up to a car to ask for a cigarette, and he confirms (it was the Riverton undercover PD, not South Jordan). I tell him we can go down to the courts during the week but he has to check in during the day when the courts are open. I ask him about his backpack. He says it was stolen. I ask him if he still has his ID and debit card, and he says those were stolen.

Update: I have submitted a GRAMA request for bodycam and vehicle footage from Riverton PD

Because I asked about shelters he thinks I’m getting angry. He doesn’t finish the food that I made and says he wants to take the soda. He is leaving. On his way out he says his name is ‘Rose’ now.

I had placed a Tile on the backpack before I gave it to him, so I look up the Tile and find it pinging where it appears to have been located for the past week and a half. I drive down to the location, and find the Tile on the ground. There is no backpack.

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This is why more than CIT training is needed

• The arresting officer very likely knew my son would be without anything when he took the backpack.
• The metro jail did no assessment – at all – for his condition. He should have been referred to mental health services, but wasn’t.
• When he was released, they literally told him to leave the building, with nothing. In December.
• He was released on his own recognizance, with the understanding that he would show up for court later. He has no means of communicating (no phone, no email). He likely doesn’t know where to look for court records that will show when a hearing is scheduled. He is not accountable for schedules – and this is a condition of his diagnosis. He doesn’t have a case worker. I’m his father and legal guardian and most of the time it’s incredibly hard to find him.
• The PD office is closed to the public on the weekend. He has no way to get his stuff back.
• Because of his diagnosis he avoids people. He will not go to a shelter, especially when he feels vulnerable.