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Maddox Scott Ritch 6-year-old with autism missing from NC

Momzilla said:
I had read a few articles that day, when I just went back to find that one it actually was the children dressed as Dr. Suess characters, not the photographer- I guess that makes it a little less creepy lol!

Helton, the Gastonia police chief, said authorities want to talk to an unidentified male jogger who was in the park at the time and a professional photographer whom witnesses saw taking photos of other children dressed in Dr. Seuss costumes.​
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Yes, that does make sense.
Momzilla said:
So a few things that are bothering me on both sides of this case:

If dad or both parents have something to do w the disappearance:
-What about the friend who was with dad? Why involve a friend to help cover up if you killed your child? And what friend would agree to help in that case anyway?

-Why choose a small, crowded park where it seems suspiciously hard to ‘lose’ a child, yet easy for people to notice if dad had entered the park without a child? Why not go for a walk on a deserted mountain trail & ‘lose’ the kid off a cliff?

-If dad killed Maddox while at the park, why hasn’t his body been found yet? The park is not very large & they’ve searched with dogs, drones, sonar, partially drained the lake- wouldn’t they have found some trace of him by now?

If Maddox really did run off on his own or was abducted:
-Why did dad decide to let his son ‘have a little freedom & run ahead’ in an unfamiliar park that he’d never been to before, especially while walking along the edge of a lake?

-When dad loses site of Maddox why did he waste time & ‘pass everything in his pockets off to his friend’ before running to catch his son?

-If dad is so disabled that he’s unable to catch up to his 6yo (who at that point had only run 20-30ft ahead)- why didn’t he ask his friend to run ahead? Did the friend just stand there holding dads pocket contents & not attempt to help catch the kid?

-Also why haven’t we heard anything from dads friend? Why isn’t he telling his story to the media?

-Where is that ‘male jogger’ who supposedly passed dad, the friend & Maddox just before the boy ran off? Why hasn’t he come forward yet? This case is big news nationwide, assuming the jogger is somewhat local (and didn’t hop straight on a plane to N Korea!) hasn’t this guy read that investigators want to talk to him?

Those are just a few of the questions I wish we knew answers to, along with the biggest question- Where the heck is little Maddox??
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I don't think the mom did anything.
You know what they say about friends
*A friend will help you move, a good friend will help you move a body*
 
https://heavy.com/news/2018/09/ian-ritch/

Some interesting things on the dad there. And some details that werent clear in other news articles or interviews. Turns out Maddox actually is verbal, just only at home and not with strangers. While he might not have talked to a stranger, he wasn't completely non verbal like originally portrayed and probably would/could have kicked up a stink if taken by a stranger. If he didnt talk around strangers I doubt he was comfortable enough to willingly go off with one.
 
Poor little guy, I was really hoping for a miracle that he’d be found alive.

Police are trying to retrace the creek bed to find out where Maddox entered the water and how long he had been there- also whether the boy walked to the creek or was swept there by heavy rains Wednesday night.

There’s still questions that need to be answered imo but we may never know if this was an tragic accident or cold blooded murder?

I hadn’t seen this article before- could the part about dad being at the park w his girlfriend be true?? Is that why we haven’t heard from ‘the friend’ who was w dad?
911 Caller Doesn't Believe Missing Boy with Autism Was at N.C. Park, But FBI Believes Dad's Account
“I’ve worked there almost three years and we see everybody come in and out of that park pretty much,” park staffer Rick Foxx said, according to CBS News. “I didn’t see that kid one time.”​
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Ian said he and at least two park staffers searched for the boy before one of the workers called police. Rick Foxx made the call, according to CBS. Foxx told the site that Ian was with his girlfriend at the park that day, noting that he was suspicious of their demeanor after they reported they boy missing.“It didn’t look as though they were that concerned,” Foxx said.​
 
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according to him he notices every person coming in.
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There's a whole lot between noticing and remembering.

Just working retail I can tell you I noticed everyone who came in but unless they started a commotion I wouldn't be able to tell you that I definitely saw them an hour later. I'm sure that park has a hell of alot more people and kids going and coming from it every minute than any store I ever worked in.

I'm sure he means well but his recollections don't mean too much. The FBI needs more than that to say dad is hinky, regardless of what they really think about him. They may be hoping dad will incriminate himself and they want to stay his friend to be able to catch that.
 
Dad breaks silence after 6-year-old autistic son found dead
The father of the 6-year-old autistic boy whose body was presumed to have been foundsaid he’ll live as a “broken man” and with the “guilt of not being there to save my son” for the rest of his life.
https://nypost.com/2018/09/27/body-found-off-highway-believed-to-be-missing-autistic-boy/
Ian Ritch penned an emotional tribute to his son Maddox, who went missing Saturday while the two were out on a walk in Gastonia, North Carolina.

“Now today i found out im not a dad anymore,” Ritch wrote on Facebook Thursday, the day the likely body of his son was found. “From this moment on for the rest of my life i will live with the guilt of not being there to save my son. The most important person in my life.”

The father and son often went for walks in Rankin Lake Park, where Maddox, who was non-verbal, would run ahead and then wait for his dad.

But on Saturday, the boy started running — and never stopped. Ritch said he couldn’t catch the boy before losing sight of him.

Maddox’s disappearance sparked a massive search and authorities believe they recovered his body in a creek about a mile east of the park.

“I wanted to be his heroe [sic]. I wanted him to say i was more than superman or batman to him,” Ritch wrote. “I wanted people to ask him who his heroe is and him say my daddy. Now im no heroe i couldnt save him or protect him at all. I would give anything to go back and save him.”

Full Story:
https://nypost.com/2018/09/28/dad-breaks-silence-after-6-year-old-autistic-son-found-dead/
 
Sex offender claims his tip lead to discovery of missing boys body
A local registered sex offender told Fox 46 late Thursday afternoon that it was his tip that led the search crews to the boy's body.
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'Probation and the US Marshals came over to the house and was checking around. I gave them a tip, I asked if they had looked down in the holes and the pipe,' said Harold Early.​
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Early is listed as a registered sex offender in Gaston County.​
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The entry on the registry was convicted in 2012 in connection to three separate incidents beginning in 1980. He is currently on probation. ​
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:jawdrop:Yikes!
 
This case is what brought me here today because I knew there would be more than I could find. My long absence from true crime has put me on the fence on this one. The dad quote that he felt guilty sleeping in a bed while his son probably sleeping on the ground in the woods really stopped my usual "the parents killed him" conclusion
 
Three witnesses - a woman out in the park with her mother and daughter - have come forward. They saw Maddox alone, running and skipping. They tried to talk to him and he ran away. They assumed he was running back to his family and continued their stroll. They didn't know he was missing, and only realized it after they saw his pictures later.
 
‘He is in a far better place...’ Funeral services held for Maddox Ritch
Maddox Ritch should be remembered as a sweet, fun-loving boy, a family friend said on Friday, before the 6-year-old’s funeral.

“He is in a far better place than we are,” said Amanda Wallace, a family friend who said she knew Maddox his entire life and was at the hospital the day he was born.

Friday’s funeral took place just over a week after police found the body of Maddox in a creek, ending a five-day search.

Mourners gathered at 11 a.m. at Raymer-Kepner Funeral Home in Huntersville. Services were private.


The past two weeks have been “to be bluntly honest, just pure hell,” Wallace said. From hearing the news that Maddox was missing to “days upon days of agony of not knowing, and then, finally getting the news that he is gone.”


“It’s anybody’s worst nightmare,” Wallace said.
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More at the link

The FBI has confirmed that little Maddox was at the park the day he went missing- however we don’t yet have a cause of death as they haven’t completed the autopsy yet.
 
Norcal Skim said:
Can't keep up with a 6 year old, good luck with the whole superheroe [sic] shtick.
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One of the articles said Dad has a physical disability. Thank god my kids are older now— I wouldn’t be able to keep up with them these days.
 
https://www.gastongazette.com/news/...death-unknown-could-take-weeks-or-even-months
10-26-18
Three weeks after a 6-year-old special needs boy was found in a creek bed outside Rankin Lake Park, police are still looking for answers to Maddox Ritch’s death.
Maddox, who had autism and didn’t speak, was found in Long Creek on Sept. 27, six days after his father reported him missing at the Gastonia park.
Gastonia Police said Thursday they’re still trying to figure out how he ended up where he was found and what caused his death. The department has yet to receive the results of toxicology reports or an autopsy from the medical examiner’s autopsy, according to Gastonia Police Chief Robert Helton.
“While we await those final medical examiner’s reports, which can take weeks or even months, our work continues to piece together his last movements,” Helton said. “We appreciate the continued support, patience, and understanding of our community. The Gastonia Police Department will do everything possible to learn the facts of what happened in the final moments of Maddox’s life. Please continue to pray for his family, friends and each other.”
Helton fought back tears in announcing Maddox’s death last month. The police department had enlisted the help of the FBI, the SBI and several local police departments in the hopes that the search would have a happier ending.
Maddox was with his father, Ian Ritch, when he reportedly started running. His father said he lost sight of his son while walking around the 1.59-mile path surrounding the lake. Maddox was found about a mile from the park and may have followed a future greenway away from the park, which would have taken him underneath U.S. 321.
Hundreds of tips have come into a special tip line established after Maddox went missing.
Anyone who was at Rankin Lake Park on Saturday, Sept. 22, who has not already called needs to call the Gastonia Police tip line 704-869-1075, police have said.
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