Inside the Utah Hell Rob Reiner Sent Nick Into: 'Stripped Naked and Lice-Shampooed,' Survivor Reveals

The details that are emerging from Nick Reiner's past are getting more complicated as the Rob and Michelle Reiner murder case moves forward.

According to reports and past interviews, Rob and Michelle made the decision to send their teenage son Nick to an extreme wilderness therapy program in Utah. They believed they were choosing the only option left to save him.

Years later, as Nick Reiner stands accused of killing his parents, disturbing accounts from former patients at that same camp have resurfaced, painting a bleak picture of the environment he was once forced to endure.

Survivors now describe a place marked by cold, humiliation and fear, one they say left lasting scars.

A Desperate Decision in the Utah Wilderness

Nick Reiner was just 16 when his parents enrolled him at Second Nature, a wilderness-based therapy program founded in 1998 that promotes a 'nomadic backpacking approach' to help troubled adolescents confront challenges.

At the time, Nick was refusing to attend school and had already begun experimenting with drugs. According to reports, more traditional rehabs in Los Angeles and Malibu had failed, pushing the family toward a more extreme solution.

Seven years later, Nick reflected on that decision during a 2016 appearance on the Dopey podcast. He said he believed the program may have done more harm than good, explaining that it exposed him to a broader and often darker world of addiction rather than shielding him from it.

'The Seed of Heroin Was Planted There'

Nick recounted meeting another teenager from Los Angeles during his time at Second Nature, someone he later reconnected with while living in sober housing.

That relationship, he said, eventually led to his first experience using heroin near Skid Row. 'The seed of heroin got planted by the first time I was ever in rehab,' Nick told the podcast, adding that while the experience widened his social exposure, it came at a devastating cost.

His comments have gained renewed attention as details of his alleged struggles with addiction continue to emerge amid the ongoing homicide investigation.

Survivors Speak: Life at Second Nature

Two women who attended Second Nature in 2007 and 2012, respectively, told the Daily Mail they did not know Nick personally but recognised much of his suffering.

Savanna Boda, who attended the program at 15, described being forced to live seven days a week outdoors for three months during freezing Utah winters. She claimed the teens conducted hourly frostbite checks on their feet to ensure they were not losing toes.

After hiking up to seven miles a day with heavy packs, Boda said bathing was rare and rudimentary, involving standing on a bandana and pouring water from a bucket.

Meals, she alleged, consisted of canned or freeze-dried food that could only be heated if a teen successfully learned to start a fire. When she struggled to do so, she said she was placed in 'fire isolation' and denied hot food altogether.

'Stripped Naked and Lice-Shampooed'

Margaret Lynd, who attended the program at 17, described what she called one of the most traumatic moments of her life. She claimed she was taken from her father's home in the middle of the night through a process known among teens as 'gooning,' which she likened to a kidnapping.

According to Lynd, she was blindfolded, zip-tied, flown to Utah and threatened during transport. Upon arrival, Lynd alleged she was stripped naked in a cold room, inspected to ensure she was not hiding anything, and forced to shower with lice shampoo. 'I just don't feel like these people care,' she said, describing counsellors as inexperienced and on a power trip.

Kyra Lynne, another ex-patient who attended the same program, has documented her experience at the centre on her social media and she echoed the similar sentiments as Lynd and Boda. Lynne is now an advocate for those who have suffered from wilderness therapy.

Rob Reiner has previously acknowledged regrets about how he and Michele handled Nick's treatment. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, he admitted they ignored their son's objections because they trusted professionals over their own child.

Nick, however, has said he does not blame his parents. On the Dopey podcast, he emphasised that fear drives many parents to drastic choices and insisted that addiction ultimately comes down to personal decisions.

Meanwhile, Second Nature has denied the allegations, calling them false and misleading, and maintains that its program is licensed, compassionate and closely regulated.

As the legal case surrounding Nick Reiner continues, these survivor accounts offer a grim window into a world his parents hoped would heal him.