Gastonia's police find the body supposed to be that of a missing boy

Gastonia police chief Robert Helton struggled to contain his emotions on Thursday by announcing the end of the five-day search for six-year-old Maddox Ritch.

"This is not the end we were hoping for," said Helton after a member of a research team discovered what one might be Maddox's body in a stream.

The investigators are asking many questions.

We still do not know how the boy died, officials said, or how he arrived in the stream where his body was found.

The researchers found the body at about 1 pm Thursday partially submerged at Long Creek, which flows downstream from Rankin Lake Park, where Maddox was last seen, authorities said at a press conference.

Helton thanked the researchers and the public for their help: "I do not think we would have found it without their efforts."

The 45-pound boy's body was camouflaged by debris in the creek, the authorities said. He was found about 2 or 3 feet of water, said FBI Special Agent Jason Kaplan at the press conference.

"It was absolutely amazing that he was found," Kaplan said. "It was extremely difficult to see him even when we were next to him."

Phillip Welch, head of Gastonia's fire department, said that the 15-person research team member who had found the body was walking in the middle of the stream while other researchers were on riverbanks.

According to the authorities, it is possible that the boy walked along the creek from the park and under number 321 until his body was found. A future greenway is planned for the region. Maddox was found about a mile east of Rankin Lake Park, said Welch.

The researchers had already traveled the same area using drones, ATVs and foot patrols, he added.

The investigation is not over, Kaplan added. It is unclear whether a crime has been committed, among other unanswered questions, he said.

"You should not take anything from it except to understand that in law enforcement, nothing has been gained," Kaplan added. "We always want to hear the people who were in the park that day."

he the authorities still want to hear a man in a white van at the park. "I want to emphasize that we think he is a witness who could have seen Maddox for the last time."

The boy's parents have been warned, the police said. The identification of the body will be done by the office of the medical examiner.

Maddox, who was autistic and non-verbal with strangers, was with his father and another adult when he disappeared.

Her mother, Carrie Ritch, told reporters on Tuesday that her son loved Bouncy Balls, the park and his teddy bear. She cried asking for help from the public to find her son.

"Keep praying for him because I just want my baby to come home, whatever you like, whatever you want to do," she said. "Maddox is my whole world and my reason for living. He is the mom's boy. … Her smile is so infectious and her laughter so precious … and I want my baby in my arms.

Ian Ritch, the boy's father, told Good Morning America on Tuesday that he had seen his son running and laughing for the last time at the park. Maddox then began running after spotting a jogger on the trail around the lake, said Ritch, and continued out of sight. Ritch, who said he had a sore foot because of diabetes, said he ran after his son but could not find him.

"I just want my son to come home," Ritch said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon, according to a press release from Gastonia's police. "It's torture."

The boy's search intensified over the five days following his disappearance, with the FBI and two dozen other agencies quickly joining the file. On Wednesday, the Gastonia police said that 330 investigators, agents, analysts and other staff members were involved. They followed about 250 tracks.

Shortly after police reported that a body had been found on Thursday, Robin Marshburn, a Gastonia resident, had tied blue and white balloons to a street sign near the park and had placed a teddy bear at his based.

"I have a 7-year-old granddaughter, so I can imagine what this mother and father are going through," she told reporters. "That's the only thing we could do for this little boy. He had a lifetime to enjoy and he was taken away. … It's not much, just a simple little gesture from Gastonia's people. This little boy became our little boy, not just his mother and father.

The park had been closed to the public since Sunday, as Gastonia police asked local residents to check their property, including sheds and garages. The researchers surveyed homes and local businesses to detect any observations of the child.

The police also sought help from the public to locate potential witnesses for the boy's disappearance.

Earlier Thursday, the police said they wanted to talk to a young man who was using the park's launching ramp near Maddox's last visit. "He can be a valuable witness," said a statement from the police department.

The police were also looking for a male jogger who was in the area.

The call for potential witnesses came as the FBI's underwater search and evidence team searched the lake on Wednesday with sonars and trained officers to locate any underwater evidence.

North Carolina emergency management teams have also arrived to expand research into the swamps and dense forests that surround the park, the police department said.

Bruce Henderson, 704-358-5051; @bhender