NE NE - Ryan Larsen, 11, with autism, La Vista, 17 May 2021

[Unalienable Rights]

Nearly 3 years later, Nebraska family of 11-year-old boy not giving up on their search for answers about his disappearance

11-year-old Ryan Larsen walked out of his elementary school in La Vista, Nebraska on May 17, 2021. Ryan is on the Autism spectrum and his family asks anyone with information to come forward.

www.nbcnews.com

Dateline -- April 2, 2024

 

[elframo]

Passed the 3 year mark since Ryan's disappearance.

 

[Seattle1]

Passed the 3 year mark since Ryan's disappearance.

Ryan vanished less than two weeks before a neighboring Iowan, Xavior Harrelson, age 11, vanished from the home he shared with his mother.

Fortunately, months later, Xavior's body was located in a soybean field-- not too distant from his home. While we don't Xavior's cause of death (not released by investigators), we do know his death was ruled a homicide.

Sadly, three years later, no suspects or POI have been named, and we are still waiting both answers and justice for these lovely, young boys.

#Godspeed Ryan, where ever you are.

 

[mlhenn]

Ryan D. Larsen – The Charley Project

Last updated May 22, 2024; details of disappearance updated.

Details of Disappearance​

Ryan was last seen in La Vista, Nebraska on May 17, 2021. He was a sixth-grader at La Vista West Elementary School. After becoming frustrated with a math problem, Ryan went to another room to be by himself and calm down.

…

In early 2023, Ryan's mother, Tammi Larsen, petitioned the court to have him declared legally dead, arguing it was unlikely he was still alive due to his autism and other medical issues. She stated she intended to file a claim against the Papillion-La Vista Public School District for Ryan's wrongful death. However, in April of that year a judge threw out her petition to declare him dead, saying there wasn't enough evidence to conclude Ryan was deceased.

Instead of suing the school district for his wrongful death, Tammi sued them for violating her son's civil rights. The lawsuit was filed in federal court, and in November 2023 it was dismissed; the judge said the complaint "does not allege an unconstitutional policy of the school district." Tammi then sued the school district in state court, for negligent supervision of Ryan and negligent infliction of emotional distress on herself during and after Ryan's disapearance.

In its defense, the school district's attorneys argued that the school had followed Ryan's Individualized Educational Program (IEP), which did not require him to be constantly supervised and which did allow him to leave the school, that "the mere disappearance isn’t enough to meet damages" and that claims that Ryan was dead or severely injured were speculative. In May 2024, Tammi's state lawsuit was also dismissed.

Under Nebraska state law, a person is presumed dead if they have been missing without explanation for five years. If Ryan is not found by May 2026, his mother can have him declared dead at that time.

 

[AmyPond]

I just said this in another thread about a missing autistic child, so I’m sorry if you see that and this, I’m not trying to harp on it, but I have a 6 year old autistic brother who likes to hide. Luckily he doesn’t run (we always find him somewhere inside), but he gets into really tight spaces and just chills there when he wants to. Autistic children can also become quite obsessive once they’re interested in something. IMO, it seems like successfully escaping and hiding became a sort of special interest for Ryan (with the searches of “how to hide from police” & previous times running away), and unfortunately he got into too tight of a spot and couldn’t get out. Which, if true, would mean he may never be found. I don’t know what kind of space that would be, but it seems like Ryan was crafty so I don’t doubt he found somewhere.

I agree with others in that I don’t think a lawsuit will be successful because Ryan had ran away from home too. Of course you want school authorities to watch your child as closely as possible, and I know Ryan had a 504 plan or something similar in place, but the fact of the matter is that there are hundreds of kids to watch at a school. If he was that big of a flight risk and needed to be watched literally 1 on 1 closely at all times, then he needed to be in a special school. (Not placing blame on family here whatsoever, just stating reasons why the school likely won’t be held responsible for Ryan leaving).

Ryan, where are you??

Kids who need a 1 on 1 don't need to be put into a "special school" (whatever that means.) Why would you even think that?

This thread made me realize that I need to have my son's IEP amended to add that he must have a staff member with him at all times. He already does have someone with him but it's not explicitly written that way in the IEP. And, God forbid, something happen to him like this....I'd want the ability to sue so they can't get away with negligence on a technicality.

Him running away from home is not the same as him running away from school. At home, he had just 1 adult to watch him. And it's not physically possible to keep an eye on your child 24/7. But, in a school setting, there are MANY adults. A child shouldn't be able to just walk out the door without being following by staff.

 

[eny]

It has been months since anything has been posted on this forum, I thought about Ryan today. A child, even autistic and in attempt to avoid detection, is always seen. Someone had to have seen something. An entire human doesn’t disappear and leave behind nothing more than an umbrella. Do authorities have any suspect or theories other than him hiding?
In my opinion, if he had the ability to know he needed to go to another room to calm down at school, he had the ability to understand hunger, thirst, cold, and where home is. I believe he would have returned to a friendly place when he realized he was cold, hungry and that it was getting dark out.
It was thrown in really early that he liked to hide, and suddenly it became hide and seek instead of who took him. He may have been 5’ 8” but he has the face of a kid. As an Omaha native and someone who went on too many walks that went way too far from home while I was far too young, men (mostly) will pull aside their car and ask if you need a ride somewhere. They ask as if kindness is their only intention. These people know how young you are and that is what they are looking for, vulnerability. There is no way Ryan Larsen left by his own free will. He may have wandered far off and when he realized he needed food and there was food at home or another familiar place, he made his way there and never made it. Or when he made it somewhere familiar, possibly a grocery or fast food location or gas station or friends, someone got him there.
While I haven’t gone through all of this forum, these ideas are not at the forefront of the conversation and they need to be. Also, are we 110% the mother had nothing to do with it. I can understand wanting to begin legal proceedings asap, but a mere two years and the mother is ready to accept that her baby isn’t out there somewhere? That doesn’t give me good feelings.
Another theory, who knew his medication? I refuse to believe that the mother is the only one who knew what medication regimen he was on to control epilepsy, etc. Is it possible he knew and could communicate that to anyone he was with? With what I know, epilepsy isn’t necessarily fatal. Is it possible he could last a few days or longer without his medication becoming a direct issue? How far away could he have gotten in a vehicle before this became an issue and his abductor sought medical care for him and received it?
There are a million options and I feel a sufficient number of them haven’t been explored, or it hasn’t been communicated to the public that it has been.
Am I alone in this?

 

[borndem]

Welcome to Websleuths,
eny !!​

 

[airportwoman]

I never heard of this story until just now!

 

[Unalienable Rights]

Nebraska Supreme Court reverses dismissal of lawsuit from Ryan Larsen's mother against school district

Larsen went missing more than four years ago after walking out of La Vista West Elementary.

www.ketv.com

September 5, 2025

The Nebraska Supreme Court reversed the dismissal of a lawsuit from Ryan Larsen's mother against Papillion La Vista Community Schools.

*****

Nebraska Supreme Court revives lawsuit in Ryan Larsen disappearance

The Nebraska Supreme Court has revived a lawsuit against the Papillion La Vista school district regarding a missing boy.

www.wowt.com

*****
His mother later filed a lawsuit against Papillion La Vista Community Schools, claiming negligence, among other things. A lower court dismissed the complaint, which was seeking an unspecified amount of money as well as punitive damages; but on Friday, the state Supreme Court overruled that decision, and sent the case back for further proceedings.

*****

(A copy of the Supreme Court Ruling is included with the article.)

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I am glad the dismissal of the lawsuit has been reversed. What do you think, @Unalienable Rights?