Lee Cutler Update: Survival book found in missing teen's car

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B"H

This is very good news. At least it provides hope that Lee Cutler may still be alive. The article says he has never been in the wild, but the book is also about a young man who had never been in the wild--and if he had read it well, it might provide him with valuable information about how to stay alive in such an environment.

Teens are romantic. They have ideals that often surpass the ideals of the adults around them. They also have a need to show their independence. Perhaps this young man felt a need to prove to himself and others that he could survive alone.

The Torah tells of our ancestors facing the harshness of the desert for 40 years, and it is said that each of us must face their own desert in order to learn the lesson of the desert: that we must only trust in Hashm. We cannot trust in people, in institutions, or even in ourselves--only in Hashm.

Perhaps a clue to his disappearance lies not only in the book "Into the Wild" which was found in his car, but in the Torah Portion for the week he was missing, which begins:

The Lord said to Abram, Go forth from your native land and from your father's house to the land that I will show you.

I pray for Levi ben Basya.

I pray that he willl be found healthy.

I pray for his family to face their own desert in his absence and be strengthened by it.

I pray that Hashm will stay close to this family.

M

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'Wild' book in missing teen's car
http://www.pioneerlocal.com/lincolnshire/news/733957,lr-newcutler-011008-s1.article

January 10, 2008
By KATIE OKON Staff Writer

The Buffalo Grove Police Department has released information that may help explain the mysterious disappearance of Stevenson High School senior Lee S. Cutler.

Buffalo Grove police Cmdr. Steve Husak said Friday that the book Into the Wild was found in the Buffalo Grove teen's car, which was located off a road in Sauk County, Wis., two days after he was reported missing Oct. 20.

"Some friends said he had read the book," Husak said.

In the book, author Jon Krakauer tells the true story of Christopher McCandless, a 24-year-old who abandoned his life in a wealthy suburb -- cutting off ties with his family and ridding himself of his personal belongings -- in order to live in the Alaskan wilderness.

After surviving approximately 112 days, McCandless succumbed to death either from starvation or eating moldy seeds, Krakauer surmised.

"There were some parallels of the way the book is written and where (Cutler's) car was found in a remote area," Husak said.

Extensive air, ground and water searches found many of the 18-year-old's personal belongings, but Cutler still remains missing.

According to Husak, who spoke to Sauk County officials earlier last week, there are no new leads in the case, and the department is fairly limited with the investigation at this point.

"I am not aware of (Cutler's) background as someone who is into the wilderness," Husak said. "But you can't rule it out."