Although the mom said she doesn't think the sheriff's office acted aggressively enough at first, she's pleased and grateful with the investigation's progress since then.
The deputies brought out tracking dogs to trace Devin's scent. A dog caught a whiff and took investigators out the front door. In retrospect, Simmers-Bond thinks the dog picked up the wrong scent.
The family had surveillance cameras set up, and although video footage didn't capture Devin leaving, it showed a light in the backyard for about 15 minutes in the middle of the night. They think that's when Devin left, skipping out through the backdoor.
Deputies pinged the teen's phone. Judging by data collected from a nearby cellphone tower, investigators placed Devin near Barfield Crescent Road between 4:56 a.m. and 5:30 a.m., his mom said. During this time, a tipster reported a possible sighting of Devin: They'd seen a teen walking on that road who matched Devin's description.
He wasn't seen again.
His phone was turned off after the ping picked up by the Tiger Hill cellphone tower. There hasn't been any cellphone activity since.
Simmers-Bond said she and the investigators believe Devin left on his own. Video surveillance doesn't show anyone picking Devin up from their home, and based on the ping activity from the teen's phone, investigators believe he walked rather than drove.
Detectives thoroughly searched Devin's room. They touched every item the teen had, combing for clues. They even pulled posters and photos off the walls and looked behind them, his mom recalled.
Although investigators were able to trace cellphone activity to pinpoint where Devin was, that's all they could gather from the teen's cellphone use.
Devin, like most teens, liked to text. He wasn't big on social media, his mom said, but he was constantly communicating with friends. The problem puzzling investigators now is the way he texted: It wasn't through a traditional messaging service. Instead, Devin used Kik, a messaging app that doesn't store messages, so detectives aren't sure who Devin was talking to in the hours leading up to his disappearance.
After her son vanished, Simmers-Bond discovered one of her husband's guns was missing, along with a jacket, a drawstring bag and a few pairs of pants. It appeared that he was planning to skip town.
"I think he is (alive)," his mom said.
Read More:
2 years later, Tennessee teen Devin Bond is still missing
