Ecuador - August Reiger, 18, US student, Banos, 16 June 2013

[lucky181]

recent OK City news story. Nothing new though. Unfortunately, I have a feeling he'll never be found.
http://www.news9.com/story/26489621...ill-searching-for-okc-teen-missing-in-ecuador

 

[kimmie0313]

http://www.feathercrown.com/

I was recently reading about some of these ayahausca ceremonies that take place down in the Amazon and it immediately took my mind to August. Apparantly some of these ceremonies can get pretty intense and a few have even died. Not saying that this is what happened at all, but just made me think of him. I sure wish that some answers would come out of this

 

[kimmie0313]

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/09/14...taking-hallucinogenic-drug-ayahuasca-in-peru/
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/apr/27/british-backpacker-dies-hallucinogenic-drug-colombia

Here are two articles covering what I was speaking of above

 

[Dallen]

Bumping for August. We need more people on this case.

 

[Dixie811]

I am so sad for August's family. I imagine it to be infinitely more difficult having your long-term missing loved one missing from a foreign country. It must make efforts to search, raise awareness, communicate with law enforcement, etc such an uphill battle =(.

 

[katydid23]

It must be so devastating to have no answers. To not know if he went away willingly or was kidnapped or if he fell down a crevice and died. I would be so overwhelmed. :cry:

 

[trenchmouth]

Bump .....

 

[trenchmouth]

This case is sad and incredibly frustrating. How do you go missing from a hike? Why would a kidnapper go to the trouble of walking that far to abduct then have to lead him all the way down the trail to get away? Is it possible he fell and hasn't been found? I have a hard time believing he ran away.

 

[OldSteve]

This case is sad and incredibly frustrating. How do you go missing from a hike? Why would a kidnapper go to the trouble of walking that far to abduct then have to lead him all the way down the trail to get away? Is it possible he fell and hasn't been found? I have a hard time believing he ran away.

Agree! - and yes, the most straight-forward, cause of what happened is what you said -- he fell and has not been found.

To whit, the Leanne Bearden case, where she remained in a tree for a month despite lots of searching; and it was not a jungle (though it was a wooded neighborhood). Having said that, I still am at a loss that August has not been found...

 

[Davia18]

IMO he fell and hasn't been found but that's just MOO

 

[OldSteve]

Reading of the finding of David Bird after missing for 14 months, I thought of August..... How could it be that David was not found all this time.... just shows how extensive searches can miss something....

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/20/n...d-bird-is-pulled-from-passaic-river.html?_r=0

 

[lillygator]

saw this bumped and hoped for some news....

 

[Tiss56]

August's family posted today on Facebook. He's been missing nearly 2 years. They said the investigation is continuing with government and private investigators are make progress and have new leads which could not be divulged. So so sad. I hope this boy is found. The high school he attended, Classen in OKC is a tight knit community. Everyone has been deeply affected.

 

[luckyseven]

Two years after son's disappearance, Oklahoma City family still holds out hope

snipped

Two years ago this month, an Oklahoma City man disappeared along a mountain trail while hiking with his family in Ecuador, leaving no trace of what might have happened.

Just this month, a new post on the Find August Reiger Facebook page reminded it's more than 6,400 followers that the search continues for the man, who would be 20 now, and that new pieces of information have been discovered, but won't be shared so as to not jeopardize the search.

On the one year anniversary of Reiger's disappearance, his family posted a poem written by Randa expressing how she felt the day her son disappeared. Then the Facebook page went silent with no postings for nearly a year.

Early this month, a new post asked for continued prayers and offered reassurance that the search continues in Ecuador. It included a picture of a young, short-haired, smiling August in a red sweater staring into the camera.

 

[PokeyMeansBusiness]

For context, here is a picture of the city of Banos. This is where August was last scene.

 

[FigTree]

Two years!
Still holding hope that August will be found - safe.

 

[Dallen]

What a beautiful area. Thanks for sharing, Pokey.

Hmmm I wonder what "new pieces of information" is referencing? And if it makes the family and LE lean more towards accident or kidnapping or...?

 

[PokeyMeansBusiness]

What a beautiful area. Thanks for sharing, Pokey.

Hmmm I wonder what "new pieces of information" is referencing? And if it makes the family and LE lean more towards accident or kidnapping or...?

About a year ago, there were 2 separate reports of sightings of him, of which the locations were not made public due to fear of the culprits monitoring MSM. These new pieces of information are interesting. If they were sightings, I would assume that they would be reported as 'sightings' just like before so it has to be something else. It could be in reference to a group he could be with or observations made by locals the day of his disappearance, such as a drug trafficking group driving through town, ect.

 

[PokeyMeansBusiness]

I think there are four different scenarios that could have happened to August.

1) August was capture and is (or was) being held against his will. I think this scenario are what most people close to August think happened, but from an outsider's perspective, it is hard to believe. What would be the reason of his capture? There hasn't been a ransom demand. Based on pictures, August doesn't look like a strong kid so I don't see the group using him for manual labor. He is a smart kid, but I don't see a group in rural Ecador knowing how to utilize an intelligent American teen.

2) August ran off on his own. The "Into the Wild" theory could be possible here, but how well trained is he on survival skills? Was he a boy scout? In his pictures, he doesn't seem like the type that could survive this type of environment on his own, but I've been wrong before. He is very smart so this could have devised a plan to run, but the family is convinced this isn't the case. I hope his internet browser and history have been checked because this would reveal indications that he could have possibly ran away.

3) August fell victim to the terrain. Unfortunately, I think this probably the most likely scenario, but not by much. No one heard any screams so it probably wasn't an animal attack. He could have possible fallen, but even then you would have thought someone would have heard something or found him by now. I'm not familiar with the trails, but he could have possibly taken a wrong turn and simply got lost. Since this area is close to the equator and it so hot outside in the summer, he could have fell victim to the heat, but even then, you would have thought someone would have found him by now if this were the case. Could he have went off-trail? Perhaps, but why?

4) August was murdered. No one heard any screams or calls for help. His brother was not too far away from him when he went ahead on the trail so he at least should have heard something. As far as we know, locals didn't hear anything either.

Bottom line is that this is a tough case. There is not a lot of information that we know of and most of us are not familiar with the area and its habitats.

 

[Dallen]

#2 reminds me that he had been studying the area and was the one pushing for the family to take the trip there. So it would definitely be in his browser.

My opinion based on your scenarios, Pokey, is that #2 and #3 are most likely. Going completely off his appearance alone, he may have been socially awkward. He had a lot to look forward to, with college and all, but you never know what a person is going through. Maybe being a couple minutes ahead of his family was just the right timing he needed. It was reported he didn't have money on him, but we can't know that for sure. If there had been an accident or he got lost, it seems they would've found his body by now. Then again, that terrain looks very rough. I'm still clueless, but very interested about the new pieces of information.