Father of Maddox Ritch Speaks out After Body Found by Officials

The father of a 6-year-old autistic North Carolina boy who authorities believe was found dead in a shallow creek in Gastonia has issued a lengthy statement on Facebook.

Over the weekend, Maddox Ritch, who is nonverbal, went missing after running away at Rankin Lake Park and his father couldn’t catch up to him, according to his father, Ian Ritch.

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

The incident sparked an extensive search of the area, and officials discovered a body that they likely believe is of Maddox on Sept. 27. “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,” said the FBI’s Charlotte office on Twitter.

According to CBS17, a formal identification of the body would take days to complete. “There is a lot of information indicating that Maddox was where the family indicated he was, and that his movements were what they indicated,” said FBI special agent Jason Kaplan in a Sept. 27 press conference.

Facebook Post

In a Facebook post on the night of Sept. 27, Ian Ritch commended investigators and expressed grief

“Today I found out I’m not a dad anymore,” he wrote in the post. “I would give anything to go back and save him.”

He also wrote: “While a lot of people don’t 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.”

Ritch continued: “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.”

The FBI will now try to determine whether the death was an accident or if a crime was carried out, Kaplan said in the press conference. “We still want to hear from people who were in the park that day,” he said.

“Our community is heartbroken. Our searchers. Our investigators. This is not the end that we had hoped for,” Gastonia Police Chief Robert Helton also said during the live conference.

In prior interviews, Ian Ritch explained what had happened.

“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,” the father 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.”