09-25-2018, 11:35 AM
Authorities searching for a missing boy in a large North Carolina park in Gastonia are filling the woods with the sound of his parents’ voices, hoping to draw his attention and end a three-day search.
![[Image: R-MADDOX-SCOTT-RICH-3-PIX-1_153779927042...40_360.jpg]](https://media.wnct.com/nxs-wncttv-media-us-east-1/photo/2018/09/24/R-MADDOX-SCOTT-RICH-3-PIX-1_1537799270420_56659730_ver1.0_640_360%5B1%5D_1537821164568_56699008_ver1.0_640_360.jpg)
Maddox Scott Ritch, 6-years-old, is autistic and described as non-verbal. He was last seen Saturday in Rankin Lake Park, Gastonia.
On Monday, local, state and federal authorities expanded their search two miles beyond the park’s boundaries, city police said.
Maddox’s parents worked with law enforcement to record messages that search teams are piping into the park in an attempt to coax him out if he is nearby, FBI supervisory special agent Jason Kaplan said at a news conference Monday afternoon.
“If he’s lost in the woods, he’ll be able to hear those messages played, and we’re hoping that he’ll come to the words of his mother and his father,” Kaplan said.
The city park’s large grounds include trails and paved walking paths, an 80-acre lake, about a dozen picnic shelters and an 18-hole disc golf course, according to Gastonia's website.
https://fox8.com/2018/09/25/fbi-uses-rec...olina-boy/
Maddox Scott Ritch, 6-years-old, is autistic and described as non-verbal. He was last seen Saturday in Rankin Lake Park, Gastonia.
On Monday, local, state and federal authorities expanded their search two miles beyond the park’s boundaries, city police said.
Maddox’s parents worked with law enforcement to record messages that search teams are piping into the park in an attempt to coax him out if he is nearby, FBI supervisory special agent Jason Kaplan said at a news conference Monday afternoon.
“If he’s lost in the woods, he’ll be able to hear those messages played, and we’re hoping that he’ll come to the words of his mother and his father,” Kaplan said.
The city park’s large grounds include trails and paved walking paths, an 80-acre lake, about a dozen picnic shelters and an 18-hole disc golf course, according to Gastonia's website.
https://fox8.com/2018/09/25/fbi-uses-rec...olina-boy/