Found Deceased NC - Maddox Ritch, 6 w/Autism, Gastonia, 22 Sept 2018 #2

[MsMarple]

Thank you so much Gardener; this is really helpful.
What is troubling, aside from everything about this, is that we know that pedophile perps target parks as their hunting grounds. (In addition to playgrounds or anywhere kids congregate). I know we are all anxious to hear the autopsy report. The alleged bruising etc. can certainly be explained by the terrain, but the condition of the remains are being characterized (if an accurate report), of being in an inexplicable condition. I'm trying to not get caught up in the speculation and wait for the report from LE.

Amateur opinion and speculation

That report is not accurate. They are the one and only site reporting bruises, etc. It's not a credible site. It's a Russian media funded English language site run by Alexander Malkevich. I don't know why they're reporting on Maddox but they didn't bother backing up any of the claims - no links to the news sites where they took some of the information - and worse, the claim they made about Maddox' body has not been posted anywhere else so what "reports" are they referring to?

No, uh uh. Even Facebook banned the site.

 

[MsMarple]

I read that the person who spotted him was in a boat in the creek.

Can you give the link? The reports I've seen all say that Maddox was found by a team of searchers and was submerged in 2 to 3 feet of water. I'm not sure how wide the creek is but would a boat fit in water that shallow?

Around 1 p.m., a team of 15 searchers made up of law enforcement officers and firefighters found the boy partially submerged in about 3 feet of water in Long Creek off Old Dallas Highway. He was found a little more than a mile from Rankin Lake Park, where he had gone missing Saturday.

Maddox Ritch search ends in sadness
Oh, the article also says Gastonia Police Chief Robert Helton said he didn’t know whether there were signs of trauma on the boy’s body.

 

[bomigabster]

Hey All I am new Here.. Just Curious if anyone else noticed him saying this in his interview? Father Said He Worried when he "Got Back"

Welcome!
It had been mentioned much earlier in the thread, a few other people noticed it as well. When I heard that I understood it to mean that when he and his gf 'got back' to the carpark (assuming that's where they began their walk around the lake) and still couldn't see Maddox anywhere, he became much more worried. But overall it wasnt clear exactly what he meant.

 

[Gardener1850]

I read that the person who spotted him was in a boat in the creek.

I heard they used boats in the creek several times to search but I'm not sure if the people who found Maddox were in a boat when he was found or if they had gotten out to wade through the creek side-by-side. This is what was said at the presser:

"A crew of 15 searchers uncovered the body along an area connected by a pathway under Highway 321 in a future greenway area. The body was found partially submerged underwater in an area with significant underbrush."
Body believed to be 6-year-old Maddox Ritch found after six-day search

They probably were in a boat due to the conditions of the creek, but I have also seen where professional searchers will line up across a creek within arms length of one another so that they don't miss anything. JMO.

 

[Lillymac]

Can you give the link? The reports I've seen all say that Maddox was found by a team of searchers and was submerged in 2 to 3 feet of water. I'm not sure how wide the creek is but would a boat fit in water that shallow?

Maddox Ritch search ends in sadness

I got the impression or maybe a picture it was like canoe. I'll look for it. Sorry I should have linked it.

 

[Gardener1850]

Can you give the link? The reports I've seen all say that Maddox was found by a team of searchers and was submerged in 2 to 3 feet of water. I'm not sure how wide the creek is but would a boat fit in water that shallow?

Maddox Ritch search ends in sadness
Oh, the article also says Gastonia Police Chief Robert Helton said he didn’t know whether there were signs of trauma on the boy’s body.

I got the impression or maybe a picture it was like canoe. I'll look for it. Sorry I should have linked it.

They said at the presser that they have two kayak teams that searched:

“You would not believe the number of times that we have been over and over the same areas,” said Chief Ramey. “We had two separate kayak teams that had been through that area.”

There is a clip of the chief saying that in the video at this link about 1:45 mark: A closer look at where Maddox Ritch was found

 

[SuperTmo]

1800 feet is 600 yards or 548m.

What are we saying?

That people on one side of the lake would have seen him on the other side if he'd really been there?

That people walking along one side would have seen him 300 yards ahead of them?

That people going about their own family business, keeping an eye on their own kids, would necessarily notice a boy in an orange tshirt amongst all the other kids in brightly coloured tshirts?

Dunno. It feels as though there's an expectation that what might happen in a perfect world must necessarily have happened in this instance.

It is a very small lake. My expectation has nothing to do with other people at the park. My expectation is that if the dad saw the boy run off and was chasing after him, watching him run, he would be able to see him at almost any point on that trail. If he was watching him run away, which I do not think was the case.

 

[MsMarple]

I got the impression or maybe a picture it was like canoe. I'll look for it. Sorry I should have linked it.

They said at the presser that they have two kayak teams that searched:

“You would not believe the number of times that we have been over and over the same areas,” said Chief Ramey. “We had two separate kayak teams that had been through that area.”

There is a clip of the chief saying that in the video at this link about 1:45 mark: A closer look at where Maddox Ritch was found

Ah, that may be the source. Still, I doubt that there were 15 searchers in kayaks so the Chief's comments are a little confusing to me. In the video from the link below it looks like the creek is maybe 10 to 12 feet wide but extremely shallow.
MISSING 6-YEAR-OLD MADDOX RITCH: 'Just a sweet innocent child': Memorial grows for 6-year-old Maddox Ritch
I know it's SOP but it's frustrating that LE is releasing so little information. They wouldn't even say what clothes Maddox had on when they found him. And why are the jogger and man with the white pickup not coming forward? A reverse 911 robocall to 32,146 landlines and cellphone numbers were sent out in hopes of finding them. Crickets so far.

Without much information it's hard to keep from wildly speculating. For me one of the reasons I'm not ready to start pointing fingers is that the girlfriend was at the park. I can't imagine someone the dad has been seeing for only a short time would conspire to harm a child. Sigh.

 

[Gardener1850]

Ah, that may be the source. Still, I doubt that there were 15 searchers in kayaks so the Chief's comments are a little confusing to me. In the video from the link below it looks like the creek is maybe 10 to 12 feet wide but extremely shallow.
MISSING 6-YEAR-OLD MADDOX RITCH: 'Just a sweet innocent child': Memorial grows for 6-year-old Maddox Ritch
I know it's SOP but it's frustrating that LE is releasing so little information. They wouldn't even say what clothes Maddox had on when they found him. And why are the jogger and man with the white pickup not coming forward? A reverse 911 robocall to 32,146 landlines and cellphone numbers were sent out in hopes of finding them. Crickets so far.

Without much information it's hard to keep from wildly speculating. For me one of the reasons I'm not ready to start pointing fingers is that the girlfriend was at the park. I can't imagine someone the dad has been seeing for only a short time would conspire to harm a child. Sigh.

Yes, my interpretation is that they had previously been up and down the area in kayaks but he didn't specifically say the team that found him was in kayaks. It doesn't say, obviously, but I'm guessing they did a grid search on foot to find him (chain of 15 people forming a line across the creek and walking parallel to the shore is what I am picturing).

 

[JC40]

Re where Maddox was found how did he end up where he was located. 6:50 on wards

Nancy grace Podcast

Friday Crime Stories: 6-year-old Maddox Ritch’s body found, cops say investigation NOT OVER

 

[MsMarple]

Re where Maddox was found how did he end up where he was located. 6:50 on wards

Nancy grace Podcast

Friday Crime Stories: 6-year-old Maddox Ritch’s body found, cops say investigation NOT OVER

Cripes! I canned the podcast after hearing the first guest, Kathleen Murphy, talk about how Maddox would have had to cross a busy road (321). This is not the case. Doesn't NG fact check her stories? Did Ms. Murphy miss all the msm articles about the greenway?

I can't believe how no one on this show can get their frikkin' facts straight. I've had it with Nancy Grace.

Anyway, I finally pinpointed the location where Maddox was found. I watched the video I posted upthread and one I linked below over a dozen times to zero in on the spot. It's further away than I previously thought. I don't know how to mark up Google Maps so I did a screenshot and put a red box around the area. I'll also link the map.
Google Maps
A closer look at where Maddox Ritch was found

 

[Peony459]

I wonder why the father had the park employee call 911 ultimately. Didn't the father or his girl friend have cell phones? Or is there no reception around the lake?

 

[La1959]

I wonder why the father had the park employee call 911 ultimately. Didn't the father or his girl friend have cell phones? Or is there no reception around the lake?

My thought was that he used a handheld radio to notify police. Or that he was better equipped to give an exact location to meet first responders.

 

[JC40]

Approximately an hour before the call went in, just let that sink in.

Have you ever been in the Super market the Mall for example and lose site of you child for a few moments. Every second feels like a minute, every minute feels like an hour. The panic is immeasurable. Your heart rate shoots through the roof, Adrenalin kicks, your whole body shakes. Within seconds you're shouting the name of your Son/daughter rushing round asking people have they seen them, all the time giving a description, age, hair color, height, what they are wearing and on it goes.

Would you wait an hour, would you delay contacting authorities.

This delay, is what most (myself included) can not get their heads around.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

A little boy was found safe and sound thanks to Project Lifesaver.
Saratoga County Sheriff's deputies say around 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon a 9-year-old boy living with Autism was reported missing.
Fortunately, the child is a member of the Sheriff’s Project Lifesaver Program and wears a transmitter bracelet.
Officers searched for about an hour before successfully tracking him down.
Program participants wear a transmitter bracelet which the Sheriff’s Office uses to locate the individual if they were to wander. In most cases, there is little to no cost to participates in the program.
If you have a family member with Autism, Alzheimer’s or any other condition and you are concerned that they may wander, please contact the Saratoga County Sheriff's Office to find out more about the program at (518)944-6288 email jlang@saratogacountyny.gov.

Sheriff's lifesaver program helps locate missing child with Autism

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Obituary for Maddox Scott Ritch - Huntersville, NC

 

[yrmfp]

I'm trying to better understand the geography of the creek in relation to the lake. Is it a runoff of the lake? Could Maddox have entered in to the water at the lake and been swept through to the creek? Is that even possible? If there was a current, the damage to the remains make sense if he traveled through the water vs. being deposited in the creek. I'm sorry to even mention that.
Sigh....it's especially tough when the little ones are lost like this.

Amateur opinion and speculation

Catching up so sorry if this has been answered. They said he was never in the lake as there are screens that would have prevented him floating out...he could have entered the creek in another location and floated down however it seems searchers drones etc would have spotted him. Weds night we had pretty bad storms, it's quite possible that contributed to him getting camouflaged and lodge partially against the bank....I just pray this baby passed the first day, not spend any time out there alone and scared.

 

[Angleterre]

I don’t know much about forensics, but will the autopsy show time of death? Even just approximately. It turns my stomach to think he was out there alone and scared for days.

Rip sweet angel.

Yes it will or should give an approximation
The things that advise the time of death are:
1. Stomach content
2. Body Temp
3. Entemology
4. Stages of Rigor

 

[yrmfp]

My thought was that he used a handheld radio to notify police. Or that he was better equipped to give an exact location to meet first responders.

The father told the park employee they would call if he wasnt found soon. The park employee started getting a bad feeling about their reactions and lack of urgency. He then went away and called 911 on his own....you can hear this in his voice as well, he was very uncomfortable with things transpiring.

I know him personally and he has told me details that make things make more sense however, are more concerning. Obviously I cant post hearsay but if LE suspects this was foul play they will need to come forward Monday with an arrest or warning for the community.....
I apologize the news source I posted earlier. I hadnt had a chance to look into them and I had assumed they had just released information early however no other news has verified. I emailed them asking their source

FACTS that we know ( that can be found from news and LE statements during PC) are:
*LE knows Maddox was on the park at some point ( that doesnt mean dad couldn't have left the park with him and returned however having his girlfriend with him seems unlikely)
*witnesses have spoken on MSN stating they saw Maddox.
* Dads girlfriend was there and LE is fiercely protecting her identity. This could be because she is innocent and they do not feel the need to have her harassed....it could also mean she witnessed something that we do not know about yet.
*the park ranger felt something was not right about dads lack of urgency and also knows that park is fenced completely around the woods. You CAN get through holes in the fence however he was led to believe ( I'll limit what he told me to not pass what he spoke on msn) that Maddox was hiding, playing..... He decided to call 911 as things were not looking right and a lot of time had past.
*we had horrible storms Weds night which could have moved Maddox to the location he was. Where he was prior is still unknown .
* no, we don't see signs of vegetation disturbed from photos however, we know search teams neighbors all have been to that location to search ( Thursday was the first time they walked directly down the creek, prior was kayaks, drones, walking bank)
* a sex offender put himself on the news stating he gave to location. This man may be innocent of Maddox but he has a history that justifies him being looked into more. ...I'll stop there on that
* Le is still asking people to come forward. (It may not be to say they saw Maddox, they may be looking to see if another individual was seen or stood out at the park, or even if dads car had left and returned...those are all possibilities)
* Maddox was located in an area searched before at least twice by LE , not including neighbors.
* Maddox was camouflaged by the environment and partially submerged.

And the day that Maddox was found evidence was collected a few minutes prior ( I will find and verify this , give me a few because it's a lot to sort through. The evidence may have not been related but there is news video of them collecting something and his body was found within an hour, incredibly near by
( I myself have reviewed that a million times but cant make out what she was bagging)

 

[mickey2942]

Sheriff's lifesaver program helps locate missing child with Autism

That is really remarkable. Our dogs have GPS tags, and cameras on their collars, we can track them on our phone, even in an area without cell service. Maybe at some point, everyone will need to wear something like this, a tracking device.