14 yo runaway hides out in Walmart for two days, builds secret forts, steals food, adopts fish as new pet

A trip to Walmart is more something you endure than enjoy, but could you actually live there? Well, a 14-year-old Texas teen (who’s anonymous for reasons that will become obvious) did just that in 2014, and it sounds like a blast! Well, for most of it.

The boy, who had a history of running away from home, was being watched by his aunt in Corsicana, Texas, when she took her eyes off him to watch TV. Seizing the opportunity, he fled through an unlocked door. The aunt contacted the cops, telling them of his history of absconding and explaining he usually stayed in “creeks, abandoned buildings, or businesses”.

Well, this time, he headed to a Walmart and went full undercover commando for two entire days without staff noticing. As per a report from The Daily Mail, he constructed two “secret forts” hidden from view, one in the baby aisle behind boxes of strollers and another in the home goods section behind stacks of paper towels and toilet tissue.

He swiped food from the store, and sneaked behind the drink aisle, cutting a hole in the wall to get at the soda without being seen. The reports even say he purloined a fish from the pet store as a companion.

Perhaps going a little too far..

So far, so cool. I mean, it’s hardly hardcore survivalism, but there’s something rebellious about sticking it to the man by chomping and gulping your way through a Walmart’s shelves. But there’s also the revelation that the boy decided to wear a diaper so he wouldn’t be spotted using the bathroom. To quote Hank Hill, “That boy ain’t right…”

After customers began spotting piles of trash in the store staff became suspicious and soon found his “forts”. Entirely rumbled, the boy tried to flee but was stopped and returned to his family.

Walmart easily could have pressed theft charges, but, in a rare display of corporate sympathy, decided to go with a more sympathetic route. Company spokesman Brian Nick told journalists:

“This is a sad situation and we are still looking into the details of what happened. As soon as the manager learned that child was hiding in our store we contacted authorities for help and we hope the child is safe.”

There’s doubtless more to this runaway than has been made public but over a decade and change on from this escapade, we can only hope this kid has grown up into an adult who doesn’t need to hide out in diapers at Walmart.