00:00:00
What deputies didn't know is that about 40 minutes after Tripp jumped off his ATV and ran into the woods, while they
00:00:07
had deputies out actively looking for him, he called his mom. That call woke Jennifer and Gil up, but
00:00:15
they were glad that it did because their son was asking for help. Tripp told them
00:00:19
that the police got his four-wheeler and asked if they could come pick him up. And the way he said it didn't make it
00:00:26
seem like police were chasing him or anything. Maybe he downplayed it the way that like teenagers do, but all Jennifer
00:00:32
was hearing was that he was stranded and needed a ride. So, she was in the process of telling him that they would
00:00:38
get dressed, they would head over, and that's when Gil's phone started ringing. And on the other end of his line was a
00:00:44
deputy that he knew named Jason Bradshaw. And Bradshaw was asking if Tripp was home.
00:00:51
Said that he and some other guys from the department were out there looking for him. And I think maybe this is when
00:00:56
like the pieces started to click into place more. So, Gil took Jennifer's phone and told Tripp, "Listen, Bradshaw
00:01:02
is out there. If you want to just go turn yourself in, go ahead." So, that was the plan.
00:01:07
Wherever Tripp was in the woods, he said that he could see the blue lights from the deputies' vehicles. He said that he
00:01:13
was going to start walking up the hill to turn himself in. And his parents could see his location from the Find My
00:01:19
app, and they said that they were going to meet him there. And they actually wanted him to stay on the phone with
00:01:23
them, but Tripp said that his phone was almost out of battery, and so they hung up.