Body of missing boy found in N.C.
A body believed to be that of missing 6-year-old Maddox Ritch has been found near the North Carolina park where he disappeared, the FBI said Thursday.
The body was found at approximately 1 p.m. at a location about a mile from where Maddox was last seen.
The boy’s parents have been notified and the identification will be performed by the medical examiner’s office.
“I think it’s reasonable to say that it’s him,” FBI supervisory special agent Jason Kaplan said at a press conference Thursday. “Some time will pass before we are able to say that definitively,” he said.
Kaplan, who saw the little boy’s body, said it was “absolutely amazing that he was found.”
“It was extremely difficult to see him even when we were standing right next to him,” he said.
Kaplan stated that the area in which the boy’s body was found had previously been searched by multiple crews, including drone, ATV teams and foot patrol.
Maddox, who is autistic and does not speak, disappeared on Saturday when he ran ahead of his father at Rankin Lake Park.
Ian Ritch, who was with his girlfriend, said this was normally what would happen when they went to the park. However, this time he said he lost sight of Maddox.
Maddox was about 25 feet away before he broke into a sprint as a jogger passed them. The father said he is a diabetic and has trouble running because he has neuropathy in his feet.
“He likes running,” Ian Ritch said.
“I couldn’t catch up with him. I feel guilt for letting him get so far ahead of me before I started running after him.”
Gastonia cops say they are looking for people who were at the park that day.
“Police need to talk with everyone at the park on Saturday to find all possible clues or valuable witnesses in the case,” the department wrote on its Facebook page on Wednesday.
The department hasn’t yet heard from everyone who was present at the park and is imploring possible witnesses to contact them.
Ian Ritch said during a press conference on Wednesday that he just wants Maddox back.
“It’s been torture,” he said. “I’m not eating, not sleeping. I’m just worried about getting my little boy back.”
Mom Carrie Ritch said earlier this week that Maddox “is my whole world and my reason for living.”
A candlelight vigil was held in Gastonia on Wednesday night for Maddox.
“There is no sense of accomplishment here today. There is grieving down at our command post,” Gastonia Fire Chief Phil Welch said.
Investigators are still seeking to understand if criminality was involved or if Maddox’s disappearance was an accident.
“This is the end we hoped we wouldn’t find,” Gastonia police chief Robert Helton said.