Found Deceased IA - Jake Wilson, 16, La Porte City, 07 Apr 2018 *autistic*

DNA Solves
DNA Solves
DNA Solves

New Posts

If I am not mistaken, Timothy Cunningham ("the CDC worker") may well have had suicidal ideation. It's far from conclusive that his case was an accident.
 
AzPistonsGirl said:
Whoa whoa whoa... do you have a link to MSM that says "the CDC worker" fell in the water, hit his head and drowned?

Did Jake go to the ice cream spot unattended, by himself?

have you seen any pictures of Jake without his glasses on?

Are you saying only younger people suffer family violence? Do you have a link to statistics? Because that's not simply not true. I can prove it by pointing to at least 1,000 cases here on WS alone.

ETA: Jake's family reported he functions at a 9-year old level. Is that an age whereby 9-year old children can "function" unattended by parents? At night? outside? in the dark?
Click to expand...

His parents apparently thought he could function on his own since they allowed him to go out alone, at night to an ice cream parlor.
 
Aescwynn said:
If I am not mistaken, Timothy Cunningham ("the CDC worker") may well have had suicidal ideation. It's far from conclusive that his case was an accident.
Click to expand...

OK. That's news to me. Last I read, which was after he was found, was that he drowned after hitting his head.
 
DAnthrplgst said:
His parents apparently thought he could function on his own since they allowed him to go out alone, at night to an ice cream parlor.
Click to expand...

where was it reported he went alone to the ice cream parlor? I must have missed it and would appreciate a link. Thanks in advance!
 
DAnthrplgst said:
OK. That's news to me. Last I read, which was after he was found, was that he drowned after hitting his head.
Click to expand...

hmmm, can you share that link? I'm sure that would be a good link to include on his thread.
 
wolvesjohnblack said:
Walking three blocks to a creek at 9:00 sounds like a bad story someone made up.
Click to expand...

I don't deny that but also having been around my share of teenagers it's not exactly out of the realm of possibility that it really happened. Heck my 16yo nephew just recently went to a woods party a couple of weeks ago (woods party = bonfire in the woods with a bunch of his friends/classmates).
 
cybervampira said:
Family desperate to find missing autistic teen boy says he simply ‘vanished’
http://www.crimeonline.com/2018/04/...ng-autistic-teen-boy-says-he-simply-vanished/
Authorities are searching for an autistic Iowa teen who disappeared from on Saturday and hasn’t been seen since.

“It’s like he just vanished,” Megan Neiswonger, mother of missing teen Jake Wilson told The Courier.”We searched everywhere.”

Jake, 16, went to Tootsie’s ice cream shop in La Porte City on Saturday evening. He returned homed and asked if he could go to the nearby Wolf Creek. He told his family he would return shortly but after failing to come home, his family became worried and contacted the police. Neiswonger’s husband searched the creek while on a kayak while other family members searched surrounding areas but found no signs of the teen.

[...]
Click to expand...
Bringing this post forward
 
DAnthrplgst said:
I don't deny that but also having been around my share of teenagers it's not exactly out of the realm of possibility that it really happened. Heck my 16yo nephew just recently went to a woods party a couple of weeks ago (woods party = bonfire in the woods with a bunch of his friends/classmates).
Click to expand...

The only thing that bothers me about him walking to creek at night, is that he is said to be much like a 9 year old, and he was alone. I like my 16 year old to use the buddy system.
 
My first reaction was 'who in their right mind would let him go out at nine at night'. I fear for this boy; something is not right about all this. I am glad LE are treating areas searched as if they are crime scenes. I'm sure they may think something is fishy. My thoughts are with his Mom. Imagine waking up to this news.....
 
This is just a general post, not directed at anyone. That "has the mental age of an x year old" thing is more complicated than that imo/ime. My son is autistic with moderate cognitive delay. He is intellectually like a 2 or 3yo, but his social/cultural interests are age appropriate and have developed fairly age appropriately. He doesn't want to hang out with 2 year olds or play 2 year olds' games/toys.

There is a school nearby me that specialises in teens with autism with mild intellectual disability, and many of them are quite independent and function quite well in the community on their own, you see them walking around alone a lot. There's a saying - "if you know one person with autism, you know one person with autism". It's really hard to generalise. While yes, it's all too frequent for missing kids with autism to be drawn to water where they then drown. But plenty of autistic kids have no interest in water whatsoever, or are strong swimmers, or have other interests, etc. They're as diverse in their interests as anyone else. Some are withdrawn and quiet, some are social butterflies who love people (they just find it hard to communicate with them).

For a 16 year old with mild cognitive delay, I'd be more worried about him wanting to socialise with other teens/young adults and unfortunately meeting with people that take advantage of his delays and problems with social communication. Of course with Joe Clyde's murder being in everyone's minds, I can't discount something closer to home either (not pointing fingers at anyone in particular). But that weather looks pretty dire too, it would be hard for anyone to cope with that - I question how in that weather he was allowed to go out alone, delays/autism regardless.
 
Some posts have been removed.

Ditch the snarky attitudes in some of the posts. Think before you post, and if you can`t say something factually and respectfully without being snide, don't post.

Thanks.
 
'It's constantly on our minds.' Why children with autism often wander away

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/s...-children-autism-often-wander-away/507243002/
When Jennifer James heard about a north Iowa autistic teen who went missing over the weekend, she couldn't help but think of her own son Matthew, a 15-year-old with autism who has wandered off several times.

"That could have been us," she said, adding once he fled five miles away on a tricycle. "We definitely could be in their shoes at any time wondering where he’s at."

Wandering is a common challenge for caretakers of autistic children. A 2011 study found that nearly half of all children with autism attempt to elope from a safe environment — nearly four times the rate of their unaffected siblings. The behavior is often compared with that of Alzheimer's patients who wander away from home or care facilities.

That means parents must remain vigilant, using special deadbolt locks, alarms or other wearable tracking device technology to dissuade their children from leaving.

"It's a daily thing. It's constantly on our minds," said James, of the Corning area. "He could wander at any time."

It's unclear whether wandering played a role in the weekend disappearance of 16-year-old Jake Wilson in La Porte City. Police on Wednesday continued their search for the boy last seen at 9 p.m. Saturday going for a walk to Wolf Creek in town.

"Hopefully Jake shows up today," La Porte City Police Chief Chris Brecher said. "We've just got to remain hopeful."

Kris Steinmetz, executive director of the Autism Society of Iowa, said children on the autism spectrum often lack any sense of fear or safety.

[...]

(Lengthy article & video at link)
 
Eloise said:
This is just a general post, not directed at anyone. That "has the mental age of an x year old" thing is more complicated than that imo/ime. My son is autistic with moderate cognitive delay. He is intellectually like a 2 or 3yo, but his social/cultural interests are age appropriate and have developed fairly age appropriately. He doesn't want to hang out with 2 year olds or play 2 year olds' games/toys.

There is a school nearby me that specialises in teens with autism with mild intellectual disability, and many of them are quite independent and function quite well in the community on their own, you see them walking around alone a lot. There's a saying - "if you know one person with autism, you know one person with autism". It's really hard to generalise. While yes, it's all too frequent for missing kids with autism to be drawn to water where they then drown. But plenty of autistic kids have no interest in water whatsoever, or are strong swimmers, or have other interests, etc. They're as diverse in their interests as anyone else. Some are withdrawn and quiet, some are social butterflies who love people (they just find it hard to communicate with them).

For a 16 year old with mild cognitive delay, I'd be more worried about him wanting to socialise with other teens/young adults and unfortunately meeting with people that take advantage of his delays and problems with social communication. Of course with Joe Clyde's murder being in everyone's minds, I can't discount something closer to home either (not pointing fingers at anyone in particular). But that weather looks pretty dire too, it would be hard for anyone to cope with that - I question how in that weather he was allowed to go out alone, delays/autism regardless.
Click to expand...

Great post! I do assessments for this population, and the most commonly used and accepted one is the SIB-r. The SIB-r results are worded like, "flourish's functional independence is very limited to negligible; her performance is comparable to that of the average individual at age 3 years 0 months (3 0). This is within the very low range of scores obtained by others at her age level." That's a real example with my name in there instead, and that's where many people get the "functions like a ____ year old" from, but, unfortunately, that assessment, although super common, isn't considered very reliable or particularly valid, but they haven't implemented a better one yet, at least in my state/area.

But yeah, people with autism are more likely than others to have significant disparity between areas....like, I've known people who ask your birthday and they're like, "That was a Sunday. It was a cloudy day in _______, Oregon, ________ sports team was playing ______, and the highest rated movie of that week was ________," but if I asked them directions to the bathroom down the hall they'd be like, "uhhhh." You just can't generalize with people in general (ha ha) but people with autism specifically.
 
Mistree said:
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/s...ke-wilson-laporte-city-town-search/503231002/


Drew Collins stopped by the fire station to be of support to Jakes mom.
Click to expand...

According to an update in this article, they are no longer wanting volunteer searchers. :( I suspect they know the outcome when he is found will not be good. It has been way too cold here in Iowa at night since he went missing. I at first thought he would be found in the water, but that doesn't appear to be the case. In the stories on the news, the water doesn't look to be flowing very much and it appears to be very shallow in places where you can almost see the bottom. I'm still not 100% convinced he is missing voluntarily though. Praying that by some miracle that he found shelter and is hiding now. Weather conditions were not good on Sat. night-Monday. More rain/thunderstorms are in the forecast and snow too by this weekend.
 
byo said:
FTA: "Jake was taking stabilizer medication, but it likely has left his system and he might hide from those searching for him, Brecher said."

I didn't realize that children with autism can use a "stabilizer" medicine. I'll have to read up on that.
Click to expand...

He was possibly referring to aripiprazole, sold as Abilify in the US. It can address a number of behaviors in certain patients. Otherwise, he may have simply been referring to a mood stabilizer such as Prozac.
 
byo said:
FTA: "Jake was taking stabilizer medication, but it likely has left his system and he might hide from those searching for him, Brecher said."

I didn't realize that children with autism can use a "stabilizer" medicine. I'll have to read up on that.
Click to expand...

People with autism can have other conditions as well, in fact it's very common for people with ASD to also have ADHD, OCD, and/or anxiety. It's not really a medical treatment for the autism per se (which has no treatment other than therapy and education, I wish there was a medication for it)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DNASolves

Who is DeKalb County John Doe (2022)?

Members online

... and 124 more.
Total: 3,119 (members: 125, guests: 2,994)

Online statistics

Members online
125
Guests online
2,994
Total visitors
3,119
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
603,289
Messages
18,154,411
Members
231,699
Latest member
smanworld
Back
Top