Found Deceased NC - Maddox Ritch, 6 w/Autism, Gastonia, 22 Sept 2018 #2

[Steelslady]

Here's a full transcript of Ian's post:

"First i want to say thank u from the bottom of my heart to everyone who took part in searching for my sweet lilbuddy. I truly appreciate everything everyone did to find him. And to everyone in the community that were hoping and praying and just took one second of their time to think about Maddox i thank yall too. I loved that lil boy he was my best lil buddy. Maddox was my only child and he will be the only one i will ever have. I wasntso worried about him when all this started on sat because i expected to find him right off over time i got more and more scared and worried. Once sundaymorning came thats when it startes me thinking i had something to worry about. Now today i found out im 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. I wanted him to say i was more than supermanor batman to him. Iwanted people to ask him who his heroe is and him say my daddy. Now im no heroe i couldnt save him or protect him at all. I would give anything to go back and save him. While a lot of people dont believe anything i have said in the past believe this. From this moment on for the rest of my life i will live with the guilt of not being there to save my son. The most important person in my life. So when everyone else gets to go back to their normal lives remember that i will never be the same man again. I will now and forever be a broken man until i take my last breath. Ivenever been a very spritual man before but. Ow i want to be just so when i die my lil boy will be the first person i see when i get into heaven. I cant waitto see his lilsmiling face again. Please all i want is some time to try to pull myself back together the best i can. So this will be my last response i will give to anyone. Just please hug ur children tighter and please dont make my mistake and let them get too far away from u. Do everything u can with ur children because i wont get the chance to do anything with mine. Now to Maddox i just want to say i love u lil buddy. Please be waiting for me when my time comes because i promise im gonna do everything i can to be with u rooster!!!!!"

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.wcnc.com/amp/article?section=news&subsection=local&headline=father-of-maddox-ritch-makes-emotional-post-on-facebook&contentId=275-598981248

My heart aches for him and Maddox's mother. Ugh. I am still praying the little guy had one hell of a fun and adventurous run, saw things on his way that made him laugh and smile, tripped over some debris in the creek, hit his head and knocked him out so he had no clue what was happening and died a peaceful death. No, that scenario doesn't comfort anyone, but at least for Maddox, it would be a far better ending than some predator harming him or possibly chasing him to his end.

 

[Steelslady]

Police opened up Old Dallas Rd., giving us a closer look at the area where they found the body of Maddox Ritch. You can see how grown up it is around Long Creek. @MorganFogarty @WCCBCharlotte

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Marvin Beach on Twitter

As one who lives on a lake with many creeks and brooks around my area, I can tell you all it takes is one heavy rain storm to create "temporary" brooks such as the one in my yard during bad rain storms and snow melting in the winter- sometimes 6 inches worth. Those can fill up very fast and the currents are acting much stronger than they look, trust me!

 

[MyTinkieGirl]

Can't figure out how to delete a post anymore. I posted something regarding my questions remaining about Ian. I'm not the police. I'm pretty sure they got this under control without my scrutiny.
You're safe in the arms of the Lord, Maddox.

 

[DisturbedConcerned]

I forgot the post number but, back around pages 16-18 maybe, there are rain charts showing that area had RECORD RAINFALLS IN THE DAYS LEADING UP TO HIS BECOMING MISSING and there had also been heavy rains AFTER he went missing.

The topography and watershed is discussed, the park sets in the bottom of a bowl and catches water for a very large area.

Florence pounded the area with many inches of rain.

I am sure on the day he went missing, that creek's level was above normal.

There is a gent in this thread that lives on that creek although I'm not sure he keeps up with how high it rises or how powerfully swift it can become.

I live on a similar creek, not clay bottomed like that one appears to be, but rock bottomed for miles. I am in in often swimming and working my dogs and fishing. It doesn't "look" any deeper or larger than long creek but satellite imagery can be quite deceptive and seldom catch creeks during high volume events.

Real time satellite imagery is available by subscription and I am sure law enforcement has access to seeing specifically dated and relevant imagery, within limits of when the satellites are flying over, of the creek over a period of several days.

There are several privately owned satellite companies that offer this service having satellite imagery of the same spot for different times.

The creek is nearly 1/4 of a mile from the end of the park his description describes they were. 'Near the boat ramps' and close to the office.

Do we know the location, yet? I keep hearing about a mile from the park but just off Old Dallas Road. If it's where the road crosses the creek, then the straight line distance is well under a mile. The walking distance along the creek is just under a mile. There appears to be an old trail but there's an obstacle at that point. Another small creek comes in on the trail side and there's no easy crossing, based on the Google satellite view. I have a hard time imagining his body would have washed a mile downstream because there appear to be a number of trees down in the stream. I'd tend to think he walked that far before running into problems.

I have absolutely no idea that this was the location. Just pure guesswork. I've marked the creek in blue dots and the trail in a sort of green/yellow/lime color. Then the smaller creek is in red.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

As in many other cases I've followed, I usually have a "gut" instinct about potential suspects. Most recently, my hinky meter was in full throttle regarding the mother's story in the case of missing 2-year-old Jordan Belliveau (Florida). My instincts were accurate in that case as the mother has been charged with his murder. Link for those not familiar with Jordan Belliveau: Found Deceased - FL – Jordan Belliveau, 2, Largo, 1 SEP 2018 #2 *ARREST*

I don't have an immediate impression about what is going on in the Maddox Ritch case. I have questions and concerns about the circumstances surrounding Maddox's mysterious disappearance and wonder how he ended up in the creek some distance from the park, but I'm not inclined to suspect his dad based on what I know so far. I think time and cause of death will be very important in the investigation, as well as corroborating evidence from people who might have seen Maddox and/or his father and girlfriend at Rankin Lake Park last Saturday. Rest in peace, little man.

 

[Katerz]

I still think that until it's either said it was a murder, or evidence comes out to show that, we need to be a little more careful when talking about the father. JMO. I think if I was in his shoes, and I stumbled across this website, it would tear me up even more knowing that people thought I would kill my child, if it was truly how he said it happened. That Maddox ran ahead, and just disappeared.

 

[Justice101]

We had record rain in NC and Virginia over the past 2 weeks

 

[DisturbedConcerned]

All of the interviews with Ian Ritch leave me nothing. His facial expressions, eye movements, animation and even words appear to me as a blank that only puzzles me.

Others prior like Susan Smith, Chris Watts etc, had me saying "they're lying" within an instant.

Ian simply puzzles me and I'd gladly defer to a person having far greater analytical skills than my own for their opinion. And that is with me trying to empathize with the hell-ish stress and grief he is most likely experiencing accompanied by his community, LEO, and reporters hammering him with highly pointed questions.

Just a blank, anyone else more tuned in?

It may serve him in the court of public opinion to provide overhead diagrams indicating where exactly they were and in which direction the child was last seen running.

I'm sure LEO has a reasonably clear idea of all the relevant proximities and locations.

I am curious if the girlfriend has been interviewed by any reporters. I believe the actual mother has and don't recall her commenting on the girlfriend. Anyone else?

I truly hope, pray and want the father to be completely innocent of anything beyond his failure to provide proper supervision and control of a child he is responsible for protecting. That includes protecting the child from himself and obviously others.

This is tragic.

As in many other cases I've followed, I usually have a "gut" instinct about potential suspects. Most recently, my hinky meter was in full throttle regarding the mother's story in the case of missing 2-year-old Jordan Belliveau (Florida). My instincts were accurate in that case as the mother has been charged with his murder. Link for those not familiar with Jordan Belliveau: Found Deceased - FL – Jordan Belliveau, 2, Largo, 1 SEP 2018 #2 *ARREST*

I don't have an immediate impression about what is going on in the Maddox Ritch case. I have questions and concerns about the circumstances surrounding Maddox's mysterious disappearance and wonder how he ended up in the creek some distance from the park, but I'm not inclined to suspect his dad based on what I know so far. I think time and cause of death will be very important in the investigation, as well as corroborating evidence from people who might have seen Maddox and/or his father and girlfriend at Rankin Lake Park last Saturday. Rest in peace, little man.

 

[DisturbedConcerned]

I completely understand. I speak to that in post 429. Your thoughts?

I still think that until it's either said it was a murder, or evidence comes out to show that, we need to be a little more careful when talking about the father. JMO. I think if I was in his shoes, and I stumbled across this website, it would tear me up even more knowing that people thought I would kill my child, if it was truly how he said it happened. That Maddox ran ahead, and just disappeared.

 

[kc1023]

When should we expect an update from LE? How long before they release COD info usually? I think it's pretty fast? Maybe today or Monday? Does anyone know what the usual is?

 

[yrmfp]

ANOTHER body found !!
Mark Barber WSOC

 

[DisturbedConcerned]

Oh my gawd! I truly hope this IS NOT related to the child's death.

That location is west and slightly south of where the boy was presumed last seen and it is about 8200' (~1.5 miles) from the boat ramp on the reservior.

It is on the other side of 321 from where the child's body was found and without Long Creek being near it.

Another body has been found within five miles of Rankin Lake Park in Gastonia. Someone passing by on Jenkins Dairy Road spotted a body in a ditch near Mt. Olive Church Road.

Ken Lemon is on the case right now. Stay tuned for updates.

ANOTHER body found !!
Mark Barber WSOC

 

[DisturbedConcerned]

With a new body, hopefully unrelated, being found today Sept. 28, 2018, it may be much longer than just a few days.

When should we expect an update from LE? How long before they release COD info usually? I think it's pretty fast? Maybe today or Monday? Does anyone know what the usual is?

 

[SuperTmo]

But what is "closely" enough? Never, even for a second, to take your eyes off him? Or to visually check on him every 5, 10 20 or whatever seconds? The reality is that you cannot keep your eyes on someone else in the way you seem to be expecting.

You turn and stand aside to let a jogger past.

You turn and stand aside to let a family group go past if they are walking faster than you.

You turn and look at the person you are walking with for a few seconds while you or they are speaking.

You look down at the path because you spot a bracelet dropped by another visitor, or maybe just a piece of litter, out of the corner of your eye.

Or maybe, you are stopped by another frantic parent asking if you've seen their kid who has run off.

That's all it takes.

No, I think his dad was distracted with his girlfriend for at least several minutes and something awful happened. They lost sight of him because they didn’t realize he wandered off until he was gone forever. Very very sad.

 

[yrmfp]

This is TOO close to home ( literally both bodies within 4 miles of me). I'm reserving opinion right now regarding who is responsible for Maddox however, I have been a bit nervous about dad being mentally unfragile right now. ( Just my opinion based off his statement after Maddox was found)

 

[MyTinkieGirl]

This is the post I was answering:
SuperTmo's Post:
No, I think his dad was distracted with his girlfriend for at least several minutes and something awful happened. They lost sight of him because they didn’t realize he wandered off until he was gone forever. Very very sad.

I was just thinking the same thing. In the interview - that makes me have so many questions about dad - on the 1st Thread, Page 45, Post 888.
The TV guy asks about how long with the new GF. He says a few months. That's kinda the "act like teenagers" phase.
It's much easier to say "Maddox just got away", than saying "I was paying more attention to my new GF than my child - with autism."
This is starting to make more sense to me, other than something more nefarious. Just me, though.

ETA: I'm not used to this new format yet. I quoted someone's post, but, it didn't show up.

 

[Katerz]

ANOTHER body found !!
Mark Barber WSOC

HOLY COW. I wonder who it is. Any reports of anyone else missing outside of little Maddox??

 

[DisturbedConcerned]

Can anyone provide GPS coordinates of where the boy's body was found, please? I am putting markers of the areas on my Google Earth map. I have the other two and where he was found I think I missed but know it is in this thread somewhere. Thanks in advance.

 

[SpyBot]

HOLY COW. I wonder who it is. Any reports of anyone else missing outside of little Maddox??

According to this they are claiming hit and run.

Gastonia Police Investigating Hit And Run Fatality - WCCB Charlotte

 

[CrownCowboy]

Where was the other body found?

 

[MsMarple]

Do we know the location, yet? I keep hearing about a mile from the park but just off Old Dallas Road. If it's where the road crosses the creek, then the straight line distance is well under a mile. The walking distance along the creek is just under a mile. There appears to be an old trail but there's an obstacle at that point. Another small creek comes in on the trail side and there's no easy crossing, based on the Google satellite view. I have a hard time imagining his body would have washed a mile downstream because there appear to be a number of trees down in the stream. I'd tend to think he walked that far before running into problems.

I have absolutely no idea that this was the location. Just pure guesswork. I've marked the creek in blue dots and the trail in a sort of green/yellow/lime color. Then the smaller creek is in red.

Your green dots are right on. LE was able to walk it so whatever the obstacle is it didn't prevent them or Maddox from going under 321. Here's the only video I could find of LE walking on that path. In it they're walking in the opposite direction, back towards the lake:

Steve Ohnesorge WBTV on Twitter

The fire chief said the location was just over a mile which agrees with my measurement so I think the FBI estimate is off.