An erratic father dragged his teen son deep into the Brazilian wilderness for a “digital detox,” vanishing for nearly a week and sparking a missing persons case that now has him facing criminal charges.
Mark Alexander Cummings Rogers, 48, was charged with putting his son in imminent danger after secretly taking the 13-year-old into a forest in Balneário Camboriú in a reckless bid to go off the grid and reenact the popular Discovery Channel reality show “Naked and Afraid,” according to Brazilian media.
The show challenges contestants to survive 21 days in the wild with no food, water or basic supplies.
The father and son — California natives who have reportedly lived in Brazil for six years — were reported missing on Aug. 28 after the youngster failed to show up for school for several days.
Local authorities launched a sweeping search, plastering missing-person posters and deploying drones to scan the area, later discovering the pair’s cellphones abandoned at a construction site and the unstable father’s Jeep with US license plates nearby, local outlets reported.
Police searching Cummings Roger’s apartment also found two starving cats left behind.
On Tuesday — six days later — the two were found in poor health in a secluded section of the forest.
“The boy was very hungry and thirsty, so much so that immediately after being rescued by firefighters, he ate a large piece of cake and bread,” police delegate Luana Backes said, according to Midiamax.
“They were very tired, and neither had bathed in days.”
Cummings Rogers, a Santa Catarina real estate agent whom friends say was acting strangely before the alarming trip, allegedly told police he and his son survived on passion fruit, cacti and tap water.
They also sheltered in a makeshift leaf tent, local outlets reported.
The young teen, reportedly a Nicaraguan citizen, was referred to child protective services and placed into he custody of family friends.
The troubled dad was released from custody and faces up to a year behind bars if convicted.
