FBI Officials Say Body Believed to Be of Maddox Ritch Found in Creek

Officials have made a public statement that the body found in Gastonia, North Carolina, is likely that of missing autistic boy Maddox Ritch.

“We have found what we believe is Maddox,” FBI official Jason Kaplan said in a live press conference at 4 p.m. “The investigation is not over,” he said, holding back tears, while adding that “we will not take anything for granted.”

Kaplan said that the body was found in the middle of a creek tangled in sticks and logs, partially underwater in a heavily wooded area. Officials said the creek, located about one mile from where the boy reportedly went missing in Rankin Lake Park, is between two and three feet deep. A Fox46 reporter said it was Long Creek.

“We still want to hear from the people in the park that day,” Kaplan said.

“This is not the end that we hoped for,” said Gastonia Chief Robert Helton as he also held back tears.

The FBI will now try to determine whether the death was an accident or if a crime was carried out.

The boy reportedly ran after a jogger after his father and girlfriend took the boy to a park, and his father said he went missing after that.

The disappearance of the child, who cannot speak, triggered a massive search by local, state, and federal investigators. They also recorded messages from his parents and played them in the woods in the hopes he could hear the voices and come back, ABC News reported.

The FBI Charlotte office said the boy’s body was discovered off Marietta Street and Old Dallas Highway. “With heavy hearts we announce a body believed to be 6-year-old Maddox Ritch was found at approximately 1 p.m. off of Marietta Street/Old Dallas Highway in Gastonia. Maddox’s parents have been notified of the discovery. The investigation is ongoing,” it said earlier in the day.

Maddox Ritch went missing in a park North Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018. FBI handout

His mother said that Maddox is autistic and cannot speak, which complicated the search and rescue efforts.

Police told WSOC that the identification of the body will be done by the medical examiner’s office. His cause of death is not yet known.

Father Speaks Out

“I started worrying once I could not see him anyone,” father Ian Ritch told WRAL. “It’s torture. I just want my little boy back home. I want to give him a big hug as soon as I see him,” Ritch said. “He looked back at me and laughed like he normally does ... he slowed down a little then he paced himself back up,” he said.

“He likes running,” Ian Ritch said, The Associated Press reported. “I couldn’t catch up with him. I feel guilt for letting him get so far ahead of me before I started running after him.”

Carrie Ritch, Maddox’s mother, gave a statement about the missing child. “Maddox is my whole world and my reason for living,” Carrie Ritch said, WRAL reported. “His smile is so contagious, and his laughter is so precious.”

Gastonia Police Chief Robert Helton told AP that officials have searched thousands of acres, drained the lake and conducted hundreds of interviews. Helton says investigators still want to speak to a jogger, a person who was pulling a kayak out of the lake, and anyone in a group photographing three children in Dr. Seuss costumes.

Ritch said he knows that he’s a potential target for investigators in his son’s disappearance.