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

[osu]

The father has stated that this was the first time he took Maddox to this park. He said he has let him run ahead of him in other parks.

I am wondering if the other parks had lakes like this one does?

BBM
In this interview, Ian says he’s taken Maddox to Rankin Lake Park before.

“Ian Ritch says he and his son often go for walks in North Carolina's Rankin Lake Park like they did Saturday. Maddox, 6, will regularly run ahead of his father, then slow down and wait for him to catch up.”

Father of missing 6-year-old boy: 'I thought they would've found him'

 

[Nellie Nelson]

NBC Charlotte‏Verified account @wcnc

'TIMELINE: The disappearance of Maddox Ritch http://bit.ly/2QgBk55 '

NBC Charlotte on Twitter

TIMELINE: The disappearance of Maddox Ritch

(I'm accessed denied :/ ..)

Me, too

A workaround to some 'access denied' issues is to see if there is a 'cached' version of the article.

To access it, first copy and paste the exact headline of the article you have been denied access to into google. In this instance:

'TIMELINE: The disappearance of Maddox Ritch'

In many cases on the google results page, the article you have been denied access to will have a small downward facing arrow just to the right of the link [which appears below the headline].

Click on the downward facing arrow, and if the word 'cached' appears, click on it and it takes you through to a text only version of the article.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

FBI Charlotte

@FBICharlotte

A search dog from the @MissingKids inside drainage pipes. We are searching everywhere possible to #FindMaddox. Call the @GPDNC tip line! We desperately need to hear from those in the park on Saturday. 704-869-1075.

​

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Shudders of little Deorr.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The 911 call is easier to listen to this way because it has so many gaps because the poor employee is trying to track down father for information like his name?? Did father ask employee to call for him?

Hmm. That’s only a partial for some reason. Here’s the full call:
'We’ve searched everywhere': 911 call released in search for missing NC boy

 

[PiertotumLocomotor]

What?! Why are there so many conflicting stories? Now they've been there frequently whereas before it was their first time there? I feel like I have to go through the thread to make sure I'm not remembering things incorrectly, but really it's the reports that are so inconsistent.

Which is it? Either it was your first time visiting or not. There is no gray area there.

 

[IceIce9]

BBM
In this interview, Ian says he’s taken Maddox to Rankin Lake Park before.

“Ian Ritch says he and his son often go for walks in North Carolina's Rankin Lake Park like they did Saturday. Maddox, 6, will regularly run ahead of his father, then slow down and wait for him to catch up.”

Father of missing 6-year-old boy: 'I thought they would've found him'

This conflicts with what was reported yesterday, when he was asked if they had been to Rankin Lake Park before he said it was the first time, although he had often visited other parks with Maddox.

I will try to find the link for that story.

 

[PiertotumLocomotor]

The 911 call is easier to listen to this way because it has so many gaps because the poor employee is trying to track down father for information like his name?? Did father ask employee to call for him?

Hmm. That’s only a partial for some reason. Here’s the full call:
'We’ve searched everywhere': 911 call released in search for missing NC boy

You would think that the FIRST thing you would do when looking for a kid is call his name. I would like to think that if my child were missing I'd be frantically repeating, "His name is (blank), he's 7, black hair, brown eyes, 3'11", wearing this shirt and these shorts." --> describing one of my kids, not Maddox

Or at LEAST be yelling his name until I couldn't speak anymore.

 

[IceIce9]

After watching the father's interview on the previous page, I hope to God I'm wrong, but, I'm going with sorta hinky. There's too many different things going on. There's a jogger, then, the boy chose "a different path" running towards parking lot, by an office, by a boat dock, a man's on the beach. Then, there's three different people in a row on the track when Maddox ran. There seems to be a lot of particulars. The child is in an orange shirt - how do you lose sight of an orange shirt. Sorry. I'm NOT in good shape, but, I can make chase. If there's all these people, and he's chasing him, and, even a man on the beach supposedly asked Maddox a question about his parents. If he's close enough to see where/what path Maddox took, all these people, and, he's not yelling "stop that boy, please"? I'm not trying to be condescending here, but, I could see him maybe running and not listening if there were a puppy loose. A 6 yo does not run faster than a man that size no matter how far ahead. Like I said, I hope I'm wrong about this. I'll apologize profusely to any people on here I may have offended if I'm wrong on this one.
ETA: I'm just going on the interview on the previous page.

All the conflicting information and additional details are making this case really hard to follow.

And I am confused about whether the father’s friend chased after Maddox. It had been initially reported that both adults chased after him until they lost sight of him. But more recently the Dad says “I chased him” and “I ran after him.”

Some early reports said that three people searched for him and I am assuming the third person was the park employee.

 

[zencompass]

I came here to check for an update, same as everyone else who is worried about little Maddox.

Please let this little boy be found safe. I will always have hope.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

"I could see him until a certain part and he got out of my view, and that is when I never seen him again," Ian Ritch told Good Morning America Wednesday.
...
"Everybody looks at you as a monster, and I regretted that since the moment its happened," he said.

NC family desperately searching for missing boy

How about how he regretted taking his eyes off his son? He seems more worried about his image. Something isn’t right here. Many of his statements are off.

 

[Bubble1421]

This statement didn't surprise me at all. My husband is diabetic and he typically refers to his insulin pen and meter as his "stuff". He carries his insulin pen and meter in his pocket. Some pens and meters can be quite bulky and would easily fall out of his pocket if he were to start running. There have been times where my husband has pulled his "stuff" out and handed it to me to hold while he did something where there was a chance that it could fall out of his pocket.

“Once I saw him start to really take off running I took the stuff out of my pockets and handed it to her [his girlfriend] to hold for me, and I took off running after him.”

The interviewer missed a trick here. You should have had him explain what "The stuff" is.
Would you care what was in your pockets? This is extraneous information, unnecessary. Yet its on his mind. Why? It's important to him, again, why?

 

[AmyPond]

If I had a child who was autistic he/ she would be in swim classes everyday , well beyond their teenage years. No if ands or buts.

That sounds like a great idea...in theory. But for some autistic kids, like mine, imitating actions is difficult or impossible. So trying to learn to do something like swim isn't as easy as one might think. Not to mention finding time to add swimming into an already busy schedule of school and various therapy. You also want to make sure your child has time to be an actual child during these years.

 

[zencompass]

Last place Maddox was seen was "at the pier and the trees" (according to 911 call).

I wonder if he "hid" somewhere as sometimes children do for fun.

This is so deeply saddening.

MADDOX 911 CALL: 911 caller says father was 'out of breath' after son disappeared at Rankin Lake Park

 

[imstilla.grandma]

I get the hinky vibe. Why two polygraphs? IMO the first one was inconclusive, what was the result of the second one? The press conference, the officer saying “mostly honest/accurate” and sighing before answering the question. Not a direct quote there but I can’t go back to grab it now. The hour before LE was called, LE not being called by the dad ASAP. The interview with the park worker who actually called LE.

I’ll just continue to sit on my hands. I pray I’m wrong but feel strongly that I’m right.

Day 6.

Scoot over Momma...
​

 

[HayLouise]

Mark Barber‏Verified account @MBarberWSOC9

'Maddox Ritch has now been missing for more than 115 hours. The sign outside the park where his father says he disappeared reads Pray for Maddox. The FBI is following up on 250 leads and 330 people are searching but so far, there is still no sign of him. #FindMaddox @wsoctv'

Mark Barber on Twitter

bbm

 

[Kittygrrll]

All the conflicting information and additional details are making this case really hard to follow.

And I am confused about whether the father’s friend chased after Maddox. It had been initially reported that both adults chased after him until they lost sight of him. But more recently the Dad says “I chased him” and “I ran after him.”

Some early reports said that three people searched for him and I am assuming the third person was the park employee.

I am also wondering this. Since the Father obviously couldn't run very quickly due to his medical condition, you'd think his friend would definitely have ran as well.

All of the conflicting information may mean nothing, but it is concerning that there seem to be a lot of inconsistencies.

Praying that Maddox will be found today.

 

[Augiezzz]

I don't know how things are in the south anymore (I grew up not far from Gastonia- still have family there, but have been in NY for 18 years now), but here people don't stop and help. People walk by. People look at their phones. People here do not want to be bothered. Sure, you get a random stranger who may stop once in a while, but most people do not.
I don't find it that strange. Most people don't want to involve themselves. It is the vast majority of society today that turns a blind eye.

I agree and h

Day 6: Dive teams to search lake for missing Gastonia boy with autism

Update for this morning. FBI dive teams will be searching the lake today.

Im confused? Didn't they send divers in on day 1-2? How big is this lake?

 

[zencompass]

Judging from the third photo down on the following website, it is a fair sized lake.

City of Gastonia - Photos of Rankin Lake

80 acre lake
Rankin Lake Park
"two boardwalks over Kaylor Creek; an approximately 80 acre lake with a 1.569 mile paved trail around the perimeter; wooden boardwalk over the lake spillway; two fishing piers; one viewing pier"

 

[osu]

This conflicts with what was reported yesterday, when he was asked if they had been to Rankin Lake Park before he said it was the first time, although he had often visited other parks with Maddox.

I will try to find the link for that story.

Yes and that interview where Ian said they’ve been to Rankin Lake Park before was also from yesterday morning.
(ABCNEWS Sep 26, 2018, 6:03 AM ET)