Maine Hermit Will Attempt To Re-Enter Society After 27 Years In The Woods

Associated PressMaine hermit Christopher Knight was arrested in April after spending 27 years in the woods by himself.Maine resident Christopher Knight, 47, lived in the woods for 27 years before being caught stealing food from a campsite in April.

"He said that he just disappeared one day," Maine State Trooper Diane Vance said at the time. "He just decided to take off into the woods. He's telling us there was no reason for it."

Knight will soon attempt to reintegrate into society, Alanna Durkin of the Associated Press reports, after pleading guilty on Monday to 13 counts of burglary.

He was suspected of as many as 1,000 petty thefts while living in the woods of the central Maine town of Rome.

Knight faces considerable challenges, beginning with how his only verbal contact with another person before being caught was in the 1990s: He passed a stranger in the woods, said "Hello," and kept walking.

The special program Knight is entering in the next few months will get help him find a job and a place to live while providing counseling and treatment, according to AP.

The biggest question is whether Knight wants to live in society, seeing as he built a self-sufficient camp and owned nothing a pair of aviators from the 1980s (since he stole everything else).

One impetus is that if he completes the one-to-three year program, then he won't have to serve any more jail time. If he fails, he could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison.