Remains of missing teenage boy are discovered in SW Colorado
DURANGO, Colo. — Teams looking for a 13-year-old boy last seen in November during a visit with his father have found his remains in southwest Colorado, La Plata County sheriff’s officials said Thursday.
Authorities said Wednesday that a five-day search for signs of Dylan Redwine ended with the teams finding several undisclosed items.
Some of the items included bones, they said Thursday. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation told La Plata County sheriff’s officials Thursday that testing indicated the remains were Dylan’s.
“The parents are obviously devastated. It’s not the kind of news we were hoping to give them. We were hoping to find him alive,” Durango police Lt. Ray Shupe said. “Our hearts are broken that this is the end result.”
No suspects named
The criminal investigation into his disappearance is continuing, sheriff’s office spokesman Dan Bender said. District Attorney Todd Risberg said it was too early to say whether charges might be filed. No suspects or persons of interest have been named.
Dylan’s family didn’t return phone messages from The Associated Press. His father, Mark Redwine, told some Denver media outlets he was focusing on giving Dylan a proper burial.
The boy lived in the Monument area with his mother, Elaine Redwine, but arrived in La Plata County on Nov. 18 for a court-ordered visit in Vallecito with his father, Mark Redwine. The father said he returned home from running errands Nov. 19 to find Dylan was gone.
About 45 officers spent five days searching a 12mile stretch of Middle Mountain Road looking for clues in the case this week. The search had been planned as a follow-up after snow melted this spring.
The latest search was conducted in the deep canyons and dense forest of the Middle Mountain area, north of Vallecito Lake.
The remains were found about 8 to 10 miles from Mark Redwine’s home by searchers using rural roads, Bender said.
Shupe declined to comment on what else searchers found with Dylan’s remains, or how and when Dylan might have died.
“Now that we’ve found him, our next mission is to find exactly what happened to him,” he said.
The case drew national attention, including an appearance by the parents on the “Dr. Phil” show.
During the show, Elaine Redwine and Mark Redwine each accused the other of responsibility for their son’s disappearance.
Bender said investigators earlier spent five days building a dam in a fruitless attempt to search the reservoir, and searches have occurred weekly since the snow melted.