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Dennis Stilson rushed from his home in Spanish Fork to Springville Monday morning when he heard his missing 12-year-old son had just walked through the door.
"I raced over there and just had to hug him," Stilson said.
Chad Stilson of Springville, who lives with his mom and stepfather, left his home Jan. 22, a few days after he was grounded over trouble at school.
Stilson said his son came home early Monday morning but the front door was locked. He walked down the street to a friend's house. The friend's family then brought him home.
"I can't tell you the relief. It's like 10 tons lifted off my back," Stilson said. "Now we have a whole new set of problems; gotta figure out why [he left], and what's going on."
As of Monday night, Chad had told his parents nothing of what had happened over the past week — where he had been, why he left home or why he returned.
"He's upset, he's tired and he's scared," Dennis Stilson said. "He doesn't say what he's upset about ... and he starts crying when we try to question him."
Stilson said Chad spent most of the day waiting for a check-up at the hospital. He was tired but healthy, the father said.
The Garrett Bardsley Foundation was organizing a search with the Stilson family Saturday, but it is unknown whether information gathered from that effort resulted in his return home. The foundation is named for a scout who went missing, and was never found, in the Uinta Mountains.
Stilson said the parents hope to get more information from Chad after he is more rested.
"We're trying to get him comfortable and feeling good," Stilson said. "Then we'll take it as it comes."
Erin Alberty contributed to this report.