probable drowning. he went off to play in the river. and family didn't report him missing until more than 2 hours after he disappeared. :(
of course reporters have his name wrong. Marks? Parks? i emailed the reporter. "typo" he says. laziness i say.
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fox
Missouri authorities have issued an "endangered person advisory" for a 12-year-old boy who disappeared Sunday night, Fox affiliate KTVI reported.

Christopher Marks was last seen around 7:30 p.m. Sunday night by the Pacific Palisades Conservation Area in Pacific, Mo. The boy had indicated he was going to a rope swing on the Meramec River. He has not been seen or heard from since, police said.

The boy is described as 5-foot-3 to 5-foot-4 and weighing 130 lbs. He has brown hair and was last seen wearing blue or black shorts with no shirt or shoes.

Anyone with information on the boy's whereabouts is being urged to call 911 or the St Louis County Police at (314) 615-5360.

PACIFIC, MO (KTVI) – St. Louis County police and other rescuers are along the Meremec River near Pacific searching for a 12-year-old boy who went missing about 7:30 Sunday night. Christopher Parks was with his family from Affton for an outing along the river in the Pacific Palisades Conservation area.

Police say it was about 7:30 p.m. Sunday when young parks was last seen playing on a rope swing along the Meramec. Police say he was in the water when family members lost sight of him.

They searched on their own until about 10 p.m. when police were called. Searchers spent most of the night using heat sensing technology to search for the boy. Blood hounds were brought out as well.

St. Louis County Police Chief Tim Fitch tells FOX 2 that the bloodhounds followed the boy’s scent to the water. Police are fairly confident he’s not in the woods. Bringing in divers is the next step.

Despite what may seem like dire circumstances, Fitch is not giving up.

“There is always cause for optimism until we learn differently,” he said at the scene Monday morning.

A small group of family members is waiting vigil about a half mile from the search. That’s where police have pushed everyone back to. They say the boy’s parents and twin sister were sent home by police overnight.

Elizabeth Combs (on right), mother of a missing 12-year-old Affton boy, stands watch

Search Continues for Missing Boy in Pacific, Lip Balm Found May be His
LIVE FROM THE SITE: The great aunt of Christopher Marks, a 12-year-old boy who went missing Sunday evening, just found a lip balm shortly before 10:30 a.m. she believes to be Marks' along the road of the Pacific Palisades Conservation Area entrance.

local Patch.

from local Patch. ^ and this




11:50 a.m. Update: "We're so hoping he got out of here," said Sherman, who stayed at the accident scene all night. "He was a Scout, and he's been camping. He knows where Six Flags is from here. He's a tough 12-year-old, and we're praying he got out."

Sherman said Christopher shared twin telepathy with his twin sister Anna-Marie since they've been young. "They were nothing alike, but they felt one another's pain. Anna-Marie felt Chris last night, but today she's just feeling empty."

Christopher was with his family in the 18,000 block of Franklin Road in the Pacific Palisades Conservation Area, which is an unincorporated area of St. Louis County. Pacific Palisades Conservation Area is a 695-acre tract in Jefferson and St. Louis Counties immediately east of Pacific and three miles from Interstate 44.

Investigators said 12-year-old Christopher is a white male, 5-foot-3 to 5-foot-4, who weighs approximately 130 pounds, as reported by KSDK Monday morning. He was wearing blue or black shorts, with no shirt and no shoes. An endangered person advisory was issued for Christopher at 3 a.m. Monday by the Missouri Highway Patrol.

Divers and bloodhounds have arrived at the area to aid in the search.

from Affton-Shrewsbury Patch



LIVE FROM THE SITE: The great aunt of Christopher Marks, a 12-year-old boy who went missing Sunday evening, just found a lip balm shortly before 10:30 a.m. she believes to be Marks' along the road of the Pacific Palisades Conservation Area entrance.




Donna Sherman, great aunt to Christopher Marks, a 12-year-old boy who went missing Sunday evening in the Meramec River near Pacific and Eureka just found a particular lip balm (chap stick) she believes to be her great nephew's. Patch was on the scene when Sherman made the discovery. Marks is an Affton resident who attends seventh grade at Rogers Middle School.

The significance of the lip balm, Scherman believes, is that it could mean Marks left the water and it fell out of his shorts pocket.

Marks has a twin sister, Anna-Marie, who told Sherman she gave the lip balm to Christopher this weekend prior to the trip to the conservation area and river retreat. Anna-Marie described the chap stick over the phone to Scherman as having a red, white and blue barrel with a U-Gas brand—which is exactly what Sherman found this morning on the gravel road that leads to entrance of the Pacific Palisades Conservation Area. Family members continue to try to think of other clues that made assist officials with the investigation.

nice reporter i am emailing with. told me they are doing ground search now. ---->

Julie Brown Patton
1:23 pm on Monday, August 6, 2012

As of 1:15 p.m., Donna Sherman said family members were told by police teams they do not believe Christopher's body is in the water in the immediate area of the river where the incident occurred. She said search teams just came out of the water and onto land to continue looking. Sherman said 12 hours of continuous searching have not turned up any confirmed clues.

they gave him beer?? if they find a body, i'd like to know his blood alcohol! this changes everything.
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Officials made a statement at 4:05 p.m. Eureka-Wildwood editor Julie Brown Patton was on the scene for the update. About 24 police cars and trucks left the accident area between 3 p.m. and 3:15 p.m., representing a major change in search shifts.

St. Louis County Police officials said crews are still looking for missing 12-year-old Christopher Marks while the screech of rail cars rumble in the background of nearby railroad tracks.

Marks, from Affton, has been missing since Sunday evening from the Meramec River in Pacific Palisades Conservation Area near the Eureka-Pacific borderline. He was at the river with his stepfather, twin sister and four friends.

Lt. James Mundell said that crews are still looking to find the boy and while the public's interest is appreciated, police are asking that volunteers do not come join the search.

"It can interfere with our tracking dogs," he said.

One such volunteer was Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member Kevin McLean, who came with gear and a large bottle of cold water, ready to walk the terrain. He is a friend of one of the family members, who all said they wanted to canvass the area while it was still daylight.

KMOV's Emily Rau is reporting via Twitter that Christopher had beer.

"Chris' sister says he did have a few drinks of a beer last night. But says he could handle the strong current," her Tweet reported.

from Affton-Shrewsbury Patch





Elizabeth Combs, left, is comforted by a friend as she awaits word Monday, Aug. 6, 2012, on the fate of her missing son


is she drunk?

Chris was camping with his step dad and one other sibling. Chris had a "few drinks of beer" then went to the river to go swimming alone. He was last seen at 7:30 and LE was called at 10 pm. As a Boy Scout, one of the first things they teach is to NEVER go swimming alone. They use a buddy system and constantly preach this to the kids.

What struck me about the mother's interview was her statement that Chris was "pouty" and "mopes" when he doesn't get his way. Who says this about their missing child? That's just really odd. She talks like she is under some kind of influence, perhaps she was hysterical and was given something to calm her down.

I hope that Chris is OK and trying to make his way out of the woods. The beer thing is troubling. When someone says "a few drinks" they usually mean a lot more than that.

0200 couldn't sleep.

Eureka, MO (KSDK) - Police have suspended the search for a missing 12-year-old boy.


Julie Brown Patton from Affton-Shrewsbury Patch

11:04 pm on Monday, August 6, 2012

Officers took a break from search and rescue activities this evening and are scheduled to resume looking for Christopher Marks at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning.

you don't 'take a break' from looking for missing child.

I didn't get the impression the mother was under the influence at all. She sounded like she'd been crying heavily and was "holding her breath" while talking (forgetting to exhale, just talk-inhale-talk-inhale), which I've done when I've been really upset and trying to tell a story. I don't know how else to explain it. (?)

About the beer...it was his twin sister who said he'd had a few sips of beer. Doesn't mean anyone gave him beer. My first thought was he'd snuck a beer out of someone's cooler. I can totally see a 12 year old boy doing that.

Aww man, the part I hate about watching that video is where they told her she couldn't yell for her son.

WTF

: (

i've read locals' comments that the river is treacherous, with fast currents. if he did in fact drown and was swept away, i think his body could surface today. or become snagged along banks in brush or branches.

there is a $5,000. reward for information leading to child.

Julie Brown Patton from Affton-Shrewsbury Patch
Police are searching specifically up to one mile downstream of where Christopher, his twin sister, stepfather and friends were Sunday evening.

"We will not stop until we've search over and over and over again all the options," said Fitch. "The officers won't rest until they've checked it all many times."

He said the Meramec River is deep at certain spots, and murkiness has made search attempts extremely challenging. "The divers said they couldn't see their hands in front of their faces."

Among the canine units brought in Tuesday are dogs especially trained to pick up scents under the water, Fitch said. "There are multiple search dog teams here, and more enroute today."

The massive search efforts aimed to find Christopher Sparks, the 12-year-old Affton boy who went missing Sunday night, have turned up no clues yet, police said.

The investigation will likely wrap up tonight, and St. Louis County Police Chief Tim Fitch said he will address media at the site of Christopher's disappearance at 4 p.m.

presser a few minutes ago

Patch

After 42 hours of searching underwater and along rough terrain without any clues, police say they think the disappearance of Christopher Marks, the 12-year-old Affton boy who went missing Sunday night, may be "nothing more sinister than a sad tragic drowning."

St. Louis County Police Chief Fitch said he is "still holding out hope" for Christopher's discovery, but rescue efforts have turned up no signs that Christopher left the water alive after he was last seen.

"We have every reason to believe that we have checked everything humanly possible," Fitch said. "Just because we checked it doesn't mean he's not there," meaning Christopher could still be in the river or in the woods.

Christopher’s family had found a small glimmer of hope in the discovery of a pair of socks near the scene where he disappeared, but Fitch said there is no evidence they were Christopher's.

"The only thing we don't have are the clothes he was wearing when he went in the water," Fitch said. "We dont have any reason to believe we have any clothing that is missing."

Fitch said police confirmed that children gathered the night Christopher disappeared were drinking alcohol under the supervision of one adult.

"It is already a criminal investigation," he said. "That will be given to the prosecutor."

KTRS
UPDATE: A body has been found in the Meramec River. No word on if it is the body of Christopher Marks.



patch

A body matching the description of Christopher Marks was found between 4:30 and 5 p.m. tonight at the Allenton boat ramp access, about six miles east of where Christopher was last seen, according to St. Louis County Police Officer Justin Starks.

There is a crime scene unit being deployed there now, Starks said.

The body was reported to have been found by Todd Combs, Christopher’s stepfather.

While it seems highly unlikely that the currents were fast enough to transport the body, police officers are still circling the air and trying to determine the speed of the currents.

Police will do a reconstruction of events as part of the investigation, Starks said.

The autopsy should show a time of death and possible other clues as to the cause of death. The time of death could help police understand whether the body was transported by water or by other means.

Neither police nor family have confirmed the identity of the body.

(08-07-2012, 06:55 PM)Lady Cop Wrote: A body matching the description of Christopher Marks was found between 4:30 and 5 p.m. tonight at the Allenton boat ramp access, about six miles east of where Christopher was last seen, according to St. Louis County Police Officer Justin Starks.

There is a crime scene unit being deployed there now, Starks said.

The body was reported to have been found by Todd Combs, Christopher’s stepfather.

While it seems highly unlikely that the currents were fast enough to transport the body, police officers are still circling the air and trying to determine the speed of the currents.
<respectfully snipped>

Whoa, the body was found by the stepfather? I thought that LE was preventing the family and any other volunteers from searching? How the hell did the stepfather find Chris [if the body is Chris'].

So stepdad gives Chris and other kids alcohol, Chris disappears to go swimming and his body is found by stepdad a day and a half later? I will withhold judgement until LE confirms that the body is Chris, but something is starting to smell really bad.

(08-07-2012, 09:06 PM)Cheyne Wrote: I thought that LE was preventing the family and any other volunteers from searching?

Would you let that stop you from searching for your child? I wouldn't & I'd like to see someone try enforcing that with me.

Interesting development.

From looking at the google view of that river, I'm highly suspect a body could have traveled six miles from the location last seen. The twists, turns, and shallow points would have all but guaranteed a body would never travel that far.

Had that area been inundated with rain recently that would have swollen the river and made its current that fierce?

0250 BODY CONFIRMED TO BE CHRISTOPHER. :(

i will be watching with interest for further developments due to the kids being given alcohol.

omg! this is just sickening. My son is 12 and I can't even imagine what I would do if he was gone. If that step father gave him beer, his ass need to be in jail. That just pisses me off to no end.

I agree with cheyne, the fact that stepdad just happened to be the only one who knew exactly where to look six miles away from the site of reported disappearance is a huge red flag. Something is not being told correctly here.