Maddox’s dad living in anguish
A North Carolina father said he will “forever be a broken man” after days of searching for his missing 6-year-old son ended with a grim discovery Thursday.
“Today I found out I'm not a dad anymore. I had big plans with my son. I wanted us to go fishing play ball go camping. I wanted to be his heroe [sic]. I wanted him to say i was more than superman or batman to him. I wanted people to ask him who his heroe is and him say my daddy,” Ian Scott Ritch wrote in long and emotional Facebook post.
Authorities on Thursday discovered what they believe to be the body of Maddox Ritch in a few feet of water in Long Creek. Official identification however could take weeks and authorities are currently speaking with people present in the park the day the boy went missing.
Maddox, who had autism and limited verbal skills, was last seen Saturday afternoon walking with his father and another adult in Rankin Lake Park in Gastonia around 1:30 p.m.
Ritch told police he lost track of Maddox when he sprinted ahead and out of sight. More than a dozen agencies participated in the search, which turned up remains five days later, about a mile east of where he'd last been seen.
“Just please hug ur child tighter and please dont make my mistake and let them get too far away from u,” Ritch wrote late Thursday. “Do everything you can with ur children because i wont get the chance to do anything with mine.”