The 16-year-old has disappeared several times before, says his father, who added he never thought to report the boy missing.
By MIKE BRASSFIELD
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 12, 1999
DUNEDIN -- Guy Olson said his teenage son had been grounded, but he slipped out of the house Friday night, just as he had several times before. It never occurred to the elder Olson to call the police.
"Usually within a day or so, I know where he is," Olson said. "I wasn't alarmed. Maybe I should have been. But it didn't turn on any lights at that point."
His son, Countryside High School freshman Grant Olson, was found bloody and unconscious on a road Friday night. It was not until Monday that authorities learned his identity. Grant came to long enough to scribble his name.
The 16-year-old still cannot speak, so no one knows what happened to him Friday night.
Grant was found lying in a turn lane on Belcher Road in front of the Dunedin Fire Station. Deputies think he was thrown from a vehicle, although he might have been hit by a vehicle.
Suffering from head injuries, Grant has been in and out of consciousness at Bayfront Medical Center ever since, although his condition seems to be improving.
Although deputies previously said a doctor had tried to get Grant to speak by removing his breathing tube, that did not happen. His tube was not removed until he was medically fit for that Tuesday.
"He's in and out, but he seems to be progressing pretty well," his father said. "He is moving, so there's no paralysis."
Guy Olson said he grounded his son Wednesday after Grant and some friends left school, went to another school and got picked up for trespassing.
"But he's 16 and has a mind of his own," the elder Olson said. "He had a date that Friday night, so he slipped out."
Olson said his son typically goes to his mother's house or to a close friend's house nearby. The father called those places Saturday, but no one had seen Grant.
"When I didn't hear from him, I was concerned," Guy Olson said, "but I wasn't alarmed yet."
Although deputies were publicly asking for the unidentified youth's parents to come forward, Olson did not read or watch any local news over the weekend.
The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office called him with the news Monday.
Olson does not know who his son was with Friday night.
Detectives, meanwhile, still are trying to retrace Grant's steps.
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