An autistic man who was missing in Provo Canyon was found Wednesday afternoon.
Stephen Simmons, 20, wandered off Wednesday morning from the large group he was with at South Fork Park.
A volunteer search and rescue team from Utah County began scouring the area after Simmons was reported missing shortly after noon. The search team included a helicopter as well as a posse mounted on horseback, which Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon said can be helpful in a land search.
"It can be hard for a helicopter to see down through trees," Cannon said. "When you have people on horseback, and they're riding on the trail, they can cover a lot of ground that you can't see from the air."
Ultimately, however, neither horse nor helicopter discovered Simmons. Instead, he was found stumbling out of the woods by a citizen, who flagged down a car and called police.
Simmons was dehydrated and tired, and medical personnel treated him for minor cuts and bruises, Cannon said.
hstevens@sltrib.com
Twitter: @Harry_Stevens