What really happened to him? Did he just wander off? I can't imagine that he could become so lost within about 15 minutes.
A parent has to become a one-person security force. My daughter's 20 and I make her call me on her way to places and on her way home from places. She says the cell phone is an electronic collar, but I don't care. She may feel that she's capable of taking care of herself, but there are always the loonies out there who defy all convention.
No kidding. I wish we had had cell phones when I was raising my kids. GPS tracking devices would have been great, too.