lost in the woods . . .

Earlier this year, in a rural area of the USA, a man was captured in the woods . . . a series of petty thefts over many years had worried the locals . . . now the crimes were explained . . . as a young man, he had mental anguish, difficult family relationships . . . escaped to the wilderness and lived there, foraging for food and stealing the other things he needed . . . he described losing his sense of self after some time without human contact . . . and perfect peace . . . in some cultures he would have been released to the wild . . . maybe encouraged to share his wisdom with others . . . in small town America he was a menace to private property and locked up for his crimes . . .