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

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HERE IS GOOGLE EARTH IMAGERY showing where I believe is where Maddox was last seen and also where the description of where today's body was found.

New_Body_Maddox_Ritch.jpg



CrownCowboy said:
Where was the other body found?
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DisturbedConcerned said:
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.
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Could the father be on the Spectrum also?
Anyone know?
I'd hate to judge him if was. Would explain his lack of panic and urgency to find his child.
 
MyTinkieGirl said:
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.
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It’s just so sad. Normally I have a strong gut feeling that the last parent or adult with the kid did something to him/her. In this case, I don’t. I think that there was likely just a serious lack of judgement that this man will sorely regret for the rest of his life. And his talk about heaven and seeing his boy again makes me hope that he has support and people propping him up before guilt becomes just to much to handle.

I’m just really really sad about this case.
 
BlkMtnGirl said:
So, so sad to see the news about sweet Maddox.


I know for 100% sure four miles is not that far for an active boy that age, especially over a couple of days' time. Two miles is like a stroll to the mailbox for my five-year-old, and he's generally running around at full speed when we hike. He has been able to go two miles with no problem since he was two. I know not everyone agrees, but I think Maddox got way further out than anyone expected in those first few hours, which is why he wasn't found sooner.

When children are reported to have wandered off, I think the public should be asked to search just outside the official search perimeter. I'm thinking of sweet 2-yr-old Noah Chamberlain, who was found just outside the search perimeter, which was only 1.5 miles out.

The National Association for Search and Rescue has a program for children called "Hug-a-Tree." Basically, children are taught to STOP, and "hug a tree!" when they get lost. Please practice hugging trees (or light posts, or whatever) with your children. You never know when it might prevent another tragedy. Here's more info on the program. Hug-a-Tree - NASAR
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it's actually not quite a mile
 
SuperTmo said:
It’s just so sad. Normally I have a strong gut feeling that the last parent or adult with the kid did something to him/her. In this case, I don’t. I think that there was likely just a serious lack of judgement that this man will sorely regret for the rest of his life. And his talk about heaven and seeing his boy again makes me hope that he has support and people propping him up before guilt becomes just to much to handle.

I’m just really really sad about this case.
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I agree. Our community ( myself included) have ripped this man alive on sm from day 1. (Even before his interviews and stories changing. ) Normally the community comes together for the families and this one has had NONE of that. I honestly feel incredibly guilty ( I accused him of neglect). He was commenting on sm groups defending himself and he got ripped apart, he would give an interview and ( possibly to him)'clarify' some of the things people said, get ripped apart...... We have no proof this man did anything except maybe a lapse of bad judgment ( which quite possibly may just be the type of person he is. His personality comes across as laid back)
Jmio; but I actually feel very ashamed and embarrassed that weve ( local community) done this to this man...... nor have we offered either parent support as a community.
 
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Good Morning,

Please stop insinuating, hinting, saying outright that either parent is suspicious. There has been not a whiff of suspicion from law enforcement that either parent is involved in their child's death.

Final warning. From here on out timeouts and bans will start.

Tricia
 
Tricia said:
Good Morning,

Please stop insinuating, hinting, saying outright that either parent is suspicious. There has been not a whiff of suspicion from law enforcement that either parent is involved in their child's death.

Final warning. From here on out timeouts and bans will start.

Tricia
Click to expand...


THANK YOU for reminding us of this. It's not fair to pass judgment on either parent because there's been no evidence to show that either were involved. My heart is just shattered for the both of them. And from reading the father's FB post.. oh man. :(
 
Gastonia Police Investigating Hit And Run Fatality
September 28, 2018
Caryn Little
GASTONIA, N.C. — Gastonia Police say they are investigating a hit and run that left one person dead.

Officers were called to Jenkins Dairy Road at Mt. Olive Church Road Friday morning around 8am in reference to a hit and run. One person was reportedly found dead at that location.

Gastonia Police Investigating Hit And Run Fatality - WCCB Charlotte
 
My dogs key on spectral people who are with symmetrical skeletal dimensions as they deviate from the norm and some dogs are able to recognize that just by seeing a person in motion who lacks 'a hitch in their giddyup'.

I've no idea if all spectral persons are with symmetrical (deviating from the norm) skeletal dimensions, but, I'm reasonably sure that any with this trait most likely is.

Same size hands, same length arm and leg bones, same size feet. Most of us are different lengths from one side to the other, sorta like a lobster has one claw larger than the other.

I'm hoping somebody much more qualified on "reading' people will chime in with an opinion.

x_files said:
Could the father be on the Spectrum also?
Anyone know?
I'd hate to judge him if was. Would explain his lack of panic and urgency to find his child.
Click to expand...
 
This is so heartbreaking, people grieve in many different ways, everyone acts differently when faced with a tragedy. Some people try to hang onto everything that their loved one touched or owned, some want it all gone, <modsnip Leave FB on FB>, you just never know how you will act.
I send my condolences to his parents and entire family, what a great loss.
 
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BlkMtnGirl said:
So, so sad to see the news about sweet Maddox.


I know for 100% sure four miles is not that far for an active boy that age, especially over a couple of days' time. Two miles is like a stroll to the mailbox for my five-year-old, and he's generally running around at full speed when we hike. He has been able to go two miles with no problem since he was two. I know not everyone agrees, but I think Maddox got way further out than anyone expected in those first few hours, which is why he wasn't found sooner.

When children are reported to have wandered off, I think the public should be asked to search just outside the official search perimeter. I'm thinking of sweet 2-yr-old Noah Chamberlain, who was found just outside the search perimeter, which was only 1.5 miles out.

The National Association for Search and Rescue has a program for children called "Hug-a-Tree." Basically, children are taught to STOP, and "hug a tree!" when they get lost. Please practice hugging trees (or light posts, or whatever) with your children. You never know when it might prevent another tragedy. Here's more info on the program. Hug-a-Tree - NASAR[/QUOTe

Staying put and all the other things they tell a child to survive is great but drones are used more now and will be used more in the future. Trees are drones enemy's to see a person unless it has a thermal camera. Trees have been known to block the view of a lost person and until a person with boots on the ground looks under those trees a rescue plane/copter wont see them. Little confused by stay under a tree. You cant hear drones from high above. wouldn't know they are even there. I agree with all there other tips.
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Some people have mentioned that degrees of autism can run in families. I believe that a flat affect in facial expressions could be indicative of this. The emotion in the dad's words didn't seem to make it to his face when he was talking about being scared and worried, which seemed a bit odd. But it is important that looking at words and body language, you need to compare to the person's norm. So if they never touch their face it's not a flag if they don't touch their face. If they always have trouble showing affect on their face, then it's not a flag.

He may also have been trying to not show emotion to the cameras, trying to show a strong face to the cameras and getting very emotional in private.

In one interview Maddox's dad was asked to talk about Maddox, and he really seemed to adore his son and he spoke with love, pride, and adoration of his boy, and when he did that there was a little twitch of a smile on the corner of his mouth, a nice smile not a CW sort of thing that was out of place, and also at that time I could see his forehead furrow a bit in a sign of worry.

It was a daytime disappearance in a park that wasn't to full nor too empty. It's not like Jordan Belliveau's mother's story that happened when there was no one around in the dark. Who would set up a lie that sounded like this and risk having been seen getting out of the car without a child? From that perspective I think it seemed unlikely to be a fraud.

I don't think LE helped. It wasn't until the day Maddox's body was found that they put out a thing saying clearly that the believed Maddox was there and it went down exactly as the dad had described. If they did say anything clearer than that earlier on, I don't think the media pushed it very well, because so many of us were still asking if anyone was really confirmed as seeing Maddox at the park.

The other thing is that when the dad said his house and his vehicle had been searched by LE, we didn't see the focus of the search change, that remained with the biggest focus being at the park and not switching to the house. So there was no intimation from a change like that that something happened at home and a body was moved.

And the statement from Maddox's dad now he knows that his son isn't coming back alive...it is absolutely heartbreaking to read it. I find it hard to believe that anyone but a loving dad could write those things :(
 
About the adult man found deceased- Maybe I can help the hurt and add some perspective.. This same thing just happened regarding a missing man's case in my private community. I had always said he drove off into deep water accidentally and drowned. They could not find his truck even when we had critical water low marks in the area.

About 3 weeks ago, a totally unrelated man drove off into the Trinity River in Dallas during a flood after a heavy rainstorm. There were witnesses to his drowning. A State Policeman told me that the road literally ended in the Trinity River many times a year, at which point I asked " When are you going to 1) Use whatever means necessary in the Trinity River to look for bodies of missing people and their vehicles?" and 2) "Why don't you put up barriers permanently so this can't recur?"

When they were diving for the man witnesses had seen drive off into the fast- moving Trinity River floodwaters, they found my sweet, elderly, long- missing neighbor's truck and partial skeletal remains. His name was William Moore, and his case is here in the 2010 " Missing But Not Forgotten" section.
We are awaiting final DNA confirmation, of course, but there's really no doubt but that it's him.

My point is- They were looking for a little boy and also found a man in NC. This is a blessing to the missing man's family, isn't it? They won't have to wait and wonder and grieve for years like Mr. Moore's family did, not knowing what happened to him.

Maddox Ritch, the most innocent of innocents, helped another person get a proper burial, and most likely, also there will be justice on down the road for this hit and run victim.

I pray for both families. I don't want to walk in their shoes, but I cry with them. God bless all.
 
JuneRose said:
This is so heartbreaking, people grieve in many different ways, everyone acts differently when faced with a tragedy. Some people try to hang onto everything that their loved one touched or owned, some want it all gone, <modsnip Leave FB on FB>, you just never know how you will act.
I send my condolences to his parents and entire family, what a great loss.
Click to expand...
So true. Everyone responds differently to shock and trauma. <modsnip removed response to snipped post> I bet the community will jump in and help.
 
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