The crowd size, unfamiliarity with the State Fair and the person, impacted staff losing sight of the individual. When the staff lost sight of the person, his attention was divided between his 10-year-old son and the person. 

Another contributing factor to losing sight of the person was that staff did not perceive a risk of losing the person because there was no elopement history. Therefore, staff felt comfortable bringing their son. Staff also knew the person’s high level abilities to be independent and capabilities to navigate the scooter, which further supported their decision to have divided attention between the person and their son.