Book on living in the wild found in missing teen's car

Police on Thursday said Lee Cutler, the missing 18-year-old from Buffalo Grove, had a copy of "Into the Wild" in his car when it was found abandoned in October.

The book chronicles the story of Christopher McCandless, a 24-year-old who was found dead in the wilderness of Alaska in 1992.

McCandless had shed most of his personal belongings and his previous life -- cutting off ties with his family -- in an endeavor to survive on his own in the wild.

Author Jon Krakauer posits that McCandless died either of starvation or from moldy seeds he had been eating. A movie based on the book was recently released.

Buffalo Grove police Cmdr. Steve Husak said investigators found the book in Cutler's abandoned Toyota Corolla in Sauk County, Wis.

"That was part of the investigation throughout," he said. "Some friends had said he had read the book."

That book was a reason the Sauk County sheriff's police thoroughly checked the nearby Baraboo River and surrounding area. They recovered his pants, wallet and car keys in the water. Police had also found a backpack with personal letters and a yarmulke near the river.

Husak said Cutler didn't seem to prepare himself in any way to survive in the wild, however, and the book was just one of the leads police followed.

Husak said he recently talked to investigators in Sauk County, who said no new information has come forward in the Cutler case.

Sauk County sheriff's police "are confident that he's not in the river, so he might be out on his own," he said.

The family clings to the hope that Cutler is still alive.