20 Year Old HCC Student Still Missing http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=105979&catid=8
Tampa, FL - Sitting in her Tampa home, the tears continue to fall behind Robin's glasses as she sits alone on her long leather sofa. She wipes her eyes and says, "He's always here with me."
Robin lives without her son, Ryan Darkins, after he went missing April 5th and one question haunts her - where is Ryan?
"It hurts in general for him to be gone this long. I know my son, any mother that knows their children," Robin sighs.
Sadly,
Ryan vanished without a trace in early April and no one has heard from him since.
No clues have been left behind.
Ryan and his best friend, Carl Walters, had planned to spend some time together one Sunday night. Carl showed up at Ryan's home on 22nd Street in Tampa.
That would be the last time Robin would see her son.
Robin wipes away tears as she talks about her son, something she admits she is reluctant to do at times. "As long as I try not to talk much about it, I'm good."
Robin filed a missing persons report, which broke her heart. She had not heard from Ryan in days which, she says, is very unusual.
The young Hillsborough Community College student was always by her side and never left without telling her where he was going.
A few days after Ryan went missing, Robin was supposed to have surgery and her son told her he would be there by her side.
He never showed.
"I'm going to hold onto my faith that he's still alive," Robin told us.
Robin says part of her strength comes from
Tampa Police Detective Sal Augeri, who is currently searching for Ryan in this case.
Detective Augeri and Robin talk nearly every day. He is a patient and kind, but serious, detective who has dedicated his life to helping families like Ryan's.
Helping Robin, he says, is especially important.
"There's no telling what could have happened. Ryan's mom, she pretty much calls me every day. I feel for her as a parent," Detective Augeri says.
He adds, "[It is] probably the worst nightmare any parent could go through."
A break in the case came a few weeks after Ryan's disappearance, but it wasn't the promising news Robin was hoping for in finding her son.
Ryan's best friend, Carl, was found viciously murdered in an area of Thonotosassa Road in Plant City.
Detectives say the young man was first attacked at a home on East Humphrey Street in Tampa. They describe the crime scene as a "blood bath".
Since Ryan and Carl were last seen together and Carl was now dead, what happened to Ryan? Where was he?
Detective Augeri has his suspicions, but he too refuses to give up hope. However, he says, it's getting harder and harder for Robin. "I think she is expecting the worst, hoping he is somewhere out there."
Soon after Ryan's best friend's death, an arrest was made.
Carl's brother, Derrick Cullins, was arrested for the murder. Cullins was charged with second degree murder. At the time of his arrest, police say Cullins had unexplained cuts on his fingers and a bite mark on his chest, plus blood on his clothing and shoes.
But, did he kill Ryan as well?
That question remains to be answered.
Detectives say that Cullins didn't even talk about Ryan being there that night, despite the fact that the 20-year-old left with his best friend in front of Ryan's mother, as a witness.
The trail has grown cold in this case for now. Detectives are trying to work a few leads, but they need more information.
Ryan's mother is taking to the streets herself, driving up and down Thonotosassa Road, trying to find clues in this case or, sadly, maybe even her son's body.
Detective Augeri says, "She rides around out there in Plant City on those back roads and calls me and tells me she's looking in this and that area. You would like to be able to tell her something."
