No break in case of missing 4-year-old
If you follow news from the United States of America you know that the big story of the week was the miraculous rescue of eleven year old Brennan Hawkins, found by searchers in a Utah forest some four days after he wandered away from Boy Scout Camp. While that against-the-odds outcome should bring some measure of hope to the family of four-year-old Rudy Lopez, optimism was in short supply today at the boy’s home on Trinidad Farm. Once again, Jacqueline Woods reports.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
Hopes of ever finding four-year-old Rudy Misael Lopez are fading fast. Santos Lopez says four days of searching have taken a toll on the family.
Santos Lopez, Father of Missing Boy
?I believe he could still be alive, but I don?t know where. My wife and I feel a lot of pain; she is very weak because of all this.?
It?s the third time that police have been at the Lopez residence to take statements from the family, but it appears that the authorities are no closer to finding the missing boy. Today posters like this one were placed in the area to alert the public to be on the lookout. On Tuesday, Ladyville police detained the child?s father, but released him on Wednesday. Today Lopez denied reports that suggest he is involved in his son?s disappearance.
Santos Lopez
?People are saying that I might have sold my son, but I could never do that. Although we don?t have money, I would not sell my child, much less kill him. I don?t have the heart to do that; I was very close to my son.?
Lopez says his son knows the area and is not in the habit of walking away from the property, so he does not believe the child is lost nor was taken by any animal, as is widely speculated.
Santos Lopez
?I do not believe it was an animal that took my son because I would have seen some traces or find his pants near a tree or barb wire. People say that probably it was bad person who took my son or someone else who may have been watching us for a while and then took the opportunity to steal him.?
?My friends give me hope in saying that he is probably living in some house; that they are taking good care of him, but I really don?t think I will ever see my son again. We have been looking for him for too many days and have not found him.?
Today, the family has made the difficult choice to end the search, but they remain optimistic that their son will be returned to them.
Santos Lopez
?I will stop looking because we cannot find him. We have no idea where he could be. He is not in the bushes. He may be in a village somewhere else, but in these bushes he is not and people are getting tired of looking at well.?
?I am very grateful to all those who have helped us and showed support and concern. I may not be able to pay them, but God will bless them. And if someone knows where my son is, please drop him off at one of my neighbour?s house or give me a call. I will not do anything to that person, I will not press charges, I just want my son back.?
If you know the whereabouts of four-year-old Rudy Misael Lopez please contact the nearest police station or you can call his parents at telephone numbers 622-1205 or 604-8123. Jacqueline Woods for News Five.
Ladyville police continue to hold farm worker Jesus Aguirre, but the Lopez family maintains that they do not believe he is involved. On Wednesday, police told News Five that they had gotten two specific leads in the case that suggest the boy had been kidnapped. A report on yesterday’s newscast that some neighbourhood boys had seen Rudy walking into the bush on Sunday afternoon has now been dismissed. It seems that the sighting occurred on Saturday, twenty-four hours before Rudy went missing.
