The family that got lost in a corn maze... and dialed 911

The video: A mildly adventurous Massachusetts couple decided to fete autumn by taking their 5-year-old son and 3-week-old daughter to explore a seven-acre corn maze in the town of Danvers, Mass., about 25 miles north of Boston. Near dark, they got lost and called 911... several times. "We thought this would be fun," the panicked mom says in one 911 tape. "Instead it's a nightmare. I don't know what made us do this." (Hear the 911 call in a local news report below.) A K9 police unit came and rescued them — 25 feet from the exit. "Maybe [the family] didn't want to ruin it for us," says maze owner Bob Connor, "but in an emergency situation, it is perfectly acceptable to cut through the corn."

The reaction: "Lucky for Maze Mom, she remains anonymous," says Margery Eagan at the Boston Herald. Because I've been to the Danvers maze, and I can report that "it's pretty damn hard to get lost" in — and I've "gotten lost between my desk and the office coffee machine." A charitable explanation for this family is that "Maze Mom's hormones were raging and Maze Dad figured he'd best just let her do what she wanted." I don't fault the family for panicking, says Melissa Jordan at Babble. But what made them think "voluntarily getting lost in a corn field" with an infant was a good idea? Check out their 911 pleas for yourself:

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