Jaryd's father feels son could have been abducted; congressman asks for help
DENVER (AP)The father of a 3-year-old boy who disappeared while hiking in Poudre Canyon almost a month ago says he thinks his son could have been abducted and does not want to give up hope that he will be found.
"Local officials have ruled out abduction when there is no evidence to say what happened to him," Allyn Atadero said in an interview with KOA-AM's Mike Rosen on Thursday. "My son has vanished. There is no trace of him," Atadero said. "I hope people continue to keep an eye out for him."
Since there is virtually no evidence to back up any particular theory about what happened to Jaryd, Atadero said authorities need to keep "all directions open" in searching for him
Jaryd disappeared while hiking Oct. 2 on a trail off Colorado 14 with 11 members of a group called Christian Singles Network, acquaintances of his father. A weeklong search by as many as 70 rescuers turned up few signs of the boy and nothing definitive.
Searchers said he might have fallen and been trapped in a spot inaccessible to searchers or been carried off by a mountain lion.
At the request of Atadero, Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., has asked for help from the FBI and other federal agencies. Atadero lives in Littleton, in Tancredo's jurisdiction.
Larimer County authorities did contact the FBI during the search, sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Gordon said, but the agency did not believe it could be of any help.
"They felt that we were covering everything we could have covered," Ms. Gordon said.
The National Guard was also contacted but also said they could add little to the search, she said.
Ms. Gordon said the possibility the boy could have been abducted was "very slim."
She said that it would have been almost impossible for someone to take him out of the canyon unnoticed, and that investigators have interviewed everybody that was seen on the trail the day he disappeared.
She added that there was no reason to suspect anyone would have abducted him for ransom, and said the remote, rugged spot off a winding road about 50 miles east of Fort Collins by car would be an unlikely area for a pedophile.
When the search was on national television the days after Jaryd disappeared, people called from all over the country to report seeing what they thought was Jaryd, she said. Those calls slowed to a trickle in the ensuing weeks, and there have been none for several days.
Ms. Gordon said authorities involved in the search share Atadero's frustration and understand his anger, and that they will reopen the search if any credible new leads surface.
"Part of the grieving process is anger," she said. "When he gets angry, we're a likely target, but really we just had nothing further to follow up. That's why the search hasn't continued."
In addition to the FBI, Tancredo said in a statement Thursday that he has written to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman and the head of the U.S. Forest Service to ask "what each agency can do to facilitate a conclusion to this case."
DENVER (AP)The father of a 3-year-old boy who disappeared while hiking in Poudre Canyon almost a month ago says he thinks his son could hav been abducted and does not want to give up hope that he will be found.
"Local officials have ruled out abduction when there is no evidence to say what happened to him," Allyn Atadero said in an interview with KOA-AM's Mike Rosen on Thursday.
"My son has vanished. There is no trace of him," Atadero said. "I hope people continue to keep an eye out for him."
Since there is virtually no evidence to back up any particular theory about what happened to Jaryd, Atadero said authorities need to keep "all directions open" in searching for him.
Jaryd disappeared while hiking Oct. 2 on a trail off Colorado 14 with 11 members of a group called Christian Singles Network, acquaintances of his father. A weeklong search by as many as 70 rescuers turned up few signs of the boy and nothing definitive.
Searchers said he might have fallen and been trapped in a spot inaccessible to searchers or been carried off by a mountain lion.
At the request of Atadero, Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., has asked for help from the FBI and other federal agencies. Atadero lives in Littleton, in Tancredo's jurisdiction.
Larimer County authorities did contact the FBI during the search, sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Gordon said, but the agency did not believe it could be of any help.
"They felt that we were covering everything we could have covered," Ms. Gordon said.
The National Guard was also contacted but also said they could add little to the search, she said.
Ms. Gordon said the possibility the boy could have been abducted was "very slim."
She said that it would have been almost impossible for someone to take him out of the canyon unnoticed, and that investigators have interviewed everybody that was seen on the trail the day he disappeared.
She added that there was no reason to suspect anyone would have abducted him for ransom, and said the remote, rugged spot off a winding road about 50 miles east of Fort Collins by car would be an unlikely area for a pedophile.
When the search was on national television the days after Jaryd disappeared, people called from all over the country to report seeing what they thought was Jaryd, she said. Those calls slowed to a trickle in the ensuing weeks, and there have been none for several days.
Ms. Gordon said authorities involved in the search share Atadero's frustration and understand his anger, and that they will reopen the search if any credible new leads surface.
"Part of the grieving process is anger," she said. "When he gets angry, we're a likely target, but really we just had nothing further to follow up. That's why the search hasn't continued."
In addition to the FBI, Tancredo said in a statement Thursday that he has written to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman and the head of the U.S. Forest Service to ask "what each agency can do to facilitate a conclusion to this case."
Were you at Mesa Verde National Park on Oct. 3. 1999 ?
Did you take any picures ?
Maybe you have what they need to help find a 3-year-old boy.
Missing Fort Collins boy may have been at Mesa Verde
Nov. 16, 1999
By David Grant Long
A missing three-year-old boy who disappeared while hiking in northeastern Colorado Oct. 2 may have been at Mesa Verde National Park the following day, a seasonal park ranger told a Denver TV station recently.
“It’s like a lead on a case,” Chief Ranger Charlie Peterson said yesterday while discussing the possible sighting by Interpretative Ranger Craig Weston during a tour of Balcony House Oct. 3. “It worried the interpretive (ranger) enough that he said, ‘Hey, I want a report written.’”
In a story aired Sunday evening, Weston told KCNC-TV that he saw a boy that “looked very much like” Jaryd Atadero, who had been reported missing on the other side of the state the previous day.
Atadero became the subject of a massive, week-long search effort after he was reported missing by members of a Christian singles group that had taken him along on a hike north of Fort Collins on a remote trail in Poudre Canyon. He was last seen hurrying ahead from one part of the group to join other members further along the trail.
Even though the area was intensely combed by 70 searchers, no definitive evidence of the Atadero’s whereabouts was discovered, leading to speculation he may have been carried off by a mountain lion or fallen into some inaccessible rocky crevice. Larimer County authorities have repeatedly discounted any theory involving a possible abduction.
Peterson said that after seeing a picture of Atadero on the news later that evening, Weston was struck by the strong resemblance between the missing toddler and the boy on his tour.
The pair stuck out in his mind because of their unusual behavior during the tour, according to Weston’s report:
“I noticed the young boy was very friendly, as was the adult male, but thought it was odd that the boy wanted to hold my hand,” he wrote. “I never gave this much thought until I saw the news out of Denver and the description of the missing three-year-old child.”
‘The description fits that of (Atabero),” he added. “Looking back, I believe the man called the boy Jerald.” The two were traveling in a 1998 or 1999 silver Geo Tracker with Colorado license plates, Weston recounted, and he last saw the SUV the following morning around 9:30 a.m., leading him to conclude they had spent the night in the park. He described the man as 5’6” tall, 160 pounds, with short black hair and prescription glasses and the boy as having sandy-blonde hair, but couldn’t recall his clothing.
Peterson said after Weston notified him of his suspicions, rangers looked all over the park for the vehicle, but found nothing. Weston’s report was faxed to Larimer County authorities as soon as it was written and the FBI was contacted as well, he added, but this produced little reaction.
Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden told the Associated Press Monday that he doubts the boy Weston spotted was Atabero. “I’ve never heard of anybody abducting someone and them parading him around in a tour group.”
Westover told KCNC that on a scale of one to 10, he would rate his certainty that the boy was Atadero as a “seven.” Peterson said he has full confidence in Westover’s observational abilities, and that the ranger was not the sort of person to seek the limelight otherwise.
“Craig’s a good guy — he’s not crazy,” he said. “I trust him.”
Relatives of the missing boy are asking that anyone who may have taken videos at Mesa Verde that day contact them or Larimer County authorities and are also requesting that the FBI pursue the lead further. Peterson said that other than some brief contacts after Westover made his report, there has been little contact from either agency.
Story from found at "http://www.cortezjournal.com/1news109.htm
If you decide to download Jaryd's banner for your page .. which I dearly hope you do, please link to http://www.angelfire.com/ak/403/page9.html
Please help by posting The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children flyer on Jaryd FLYER
"Jaryd’s memory will forever be preserved and will help educate all of us on the dangers that can accompany recreating in Colorado’s forests."
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representative Tom Tancredo (R-CO) spoke to Allyn Atadero today, father of Jaryd Atadero, to celebrate Congress’ passage of H.R. 3817, which would dedicate the Big South Trail in the Comanche Peak Wilderness area of Roosevelt National Forest to Jaryd Atadero, a three year-old from Littleton who tragically vanished last year.
"Jaryd’s memory will forever be preserved and will help educate all of us on the dangers that can accompany recreating in Colorado’s forests," Tancredo said. "Safety must be the number one priority."
H.R. 3817 directs the Secretary of Agriculture to post a sign at the Big South Trail trailhead that describes "safe recreation" outdoors with children, refers to both the tragic loss of Jaryd Atadero and the dedication by Congress of this trail. The bill also requires posting a copy of the bill at the trailhead.
The bill passed the House on July 25th by a voice vote, and last night the Senate passed the bill unanimously. It now awaits signature into law by the President.
"Working with Allyn Atadero to make this bill a reality was an immensely pleasurable experience, and I want to thank him for the strength he has shown throughout the past year," Tancredo said.
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JONATHAN CAMACHO |