Investigators say the October outing in Big Cottonwood Canyon left two children in critical condition and followed repeated warnings to turn back.
SALT LAKE CITY, UT — A South Jordan father rescued with his three young children after an overnight search in Big Cottonwood Canyon now faces multiple felony counts, including child torture and aggravated child abuse, stemming from the October hike that ended in freezing weather and emergency hospitalizations, prosecutors said.
The case centers on a high-country trail where 31-year-old Micah Zephan Smith took his children — a girl, 8, and two boys, 4 and 2 — as a fall storm moved over the Wasatch on Oct. 11. The family was found the next day after a nighttime search drew deputies, ground teams and a state helicopter. Two children arrived at hospitals in critical condition with profound hypothermia, according to charging documents. Authorities say new evidence, including videos and messages recovered after the rescue, shows Smith ignored his children’s pleas and his wife’s texted warnings to turn around before weather and terrain worsened.
Late on Oct. 11, dispatchers were alerted when the family did not return from the Broads Fork area of Big Cottonwood Canyon. Deputies located their vehicle at a trailhead parking lot and began searching as temperatures fell. By morning on Oct. 12, rescuers reached the group and evacuated them by ground and air. In interviews afterward, investigators wrote that Smith described pressing on for a “once-in-a-lifetime” experience despite deteriorating conditions. A video located on Smith’s phone captured the 8-year-old asking, “Are we going to freeze to death, Daddy?” a statement that prosecutors say shows the children’s obvious distress. The 4-year-old boy later suffered a stroke and required skull surgery; the 2-year-old was treated for severe hypothermia. “The children’s condition speaks for itself,” Salt Lake County prosecutors said in a statement.
Charging documents describe Smith as “selfish” in choosing a route and pace beyond the children’s abilities while dismissing safety concerns from family and the children themselves. Investigators say his wife texted him that afternoon urging him to turn around and come home. The older child also repeatedly told him she was scared and wanted to go back, according to the case file. Prosecutors say Smith admitted he had not checked the forecast and was not adequately prepared for cold exposure. Rescuers reported that, upon first contact, he appeared more focused on his own gear than on the children’s condition. Authorities say the children’s temperatures at admission reflected life-threatening hypothermia; the 4-year-old was unconscious on arrival.
Records also outline incidents before and after the hike that investigators argue show escalating risk. A month before the outing, police were called to a mental health incident involving Smith, who allegedly expressed suicidal thoughts; responding officers documented weapons present during that call. After the rescue, hospital staff reported Smith trespassed at a facility while attempting to visit, leading to further police contact. Prosecutors noted that none of those earlier episodes resulted in charges, but they are cited in the new filing to explain why they requested detention without bail. A public defender had not filed a plea on Smith’s behalf as of Wednesday; efforts to reach previously listed family representatives were not successful.
Big Cottonwood Canyon, a popular Wasatch Front destination east of the Salt Lake Valley, rises quickly into steep, avalanche-prone basins. The Broads Fork trail climbs through aspen and talus toward higher cirques that often hold snow and ice early in the season. Search-and-rescue teams in Salt Lake County respond to dozens of calls annually in the canyon, many involving lost hikers, exposure or falls. In recent years, county officials have urged hikers to carry layers, headlamps and navigation tools as storms can drop temperatures rapidly in shaded drainages even on mild fall afternoons. The Oct. 11 storm produced below-freezing night temperatures at elevation, according to investigators’ timeline.
Prosecutors charged Smith with three counts of child torture and three counts of aggravated child abuse, all felonies. He was arrested Tuesday and ordered held without bail pending an initial court appearance. A judge is expected to review the detention order at a hearing early next week. Prosecutors said they will seek a no-contact order covering the children while the case proceeds and anticipate additional evidence from phone forensics and medical providers to be filed with the court. If convicted on all counts, Smith could face a potentially lengthy prison term; exact sentencing exposure would depend on the offense levels the court applies at sentencing.
Neighbors in South Jordan described a family that kept to themselves. Hikers who frequent the canyon said the route is strenuous for children, especially in early-season snow. “You can be warm at the trailhead and step into winter a mile later,” said Dave L., who hikes Big Cottonwood weekly. Outside Primary Children’s Hospital last month, a passerby who saw helicopters arriving with patients recalled the scene as “quiet and tense,” with medical crews moving quickly. At the trailhead, a signboard that weekend showed patchy snow on shaded slopes. Photographs filed with the case show rescuers carrying blankets and warming equipment up the path.
Smith remains in the Salt Lake County jail while the case is assigned to a district judge. Prosecutors said formal arraignment could be set after the initial appearance; additional motions on evidence and custody are expected in December. The children’s current conditions were not released. Officials said the next public update is likely to come at the detention hearing, set for early next week in Salt Lake City.
Author note: Last updated November 27, 2025.