'Somebody knows something,' La Vista police chief needs evidence to find missing Ryan Larsen
The 12-year-old autistic boy has disappeared one year ago after leaving school early
The 12-year-old autistic boy has disappeared one year ago after leaving school early
The 12-year-old autistic boy has disappeared one year ago after leaving school early
When you walk into the La Vista Police Department, one of the first things you'll see is Ryan Larsen's picture.
"It's been a year and the case is still under investigation," said Chief Bob Lausten.
"We've looked everywhere."
Lausten says his department knew Ryan.
They found the boy with autism safe, a half dozen other times, when he'd walked out of La Vista West Elementary.
This time, on May 17, 2021, something went wrong.
Ryan left his school around 11:45 a.m.
A neighbor spotted him at 1:30 p.m. at the Southfield apartment complex, where Ryan lived with his mom and older sister, about two blocks from the school at 84th and Harrison streets.
Nine months ago, investigators asked Google for help, getting search warrants for all phone activity in that area on that day.
Lausten said social media, Google searches and texts are just starting to come in.
"We've been working with them to narrow that large batch of information down but our timeline and their timeline are two different timelines," he said.
The first few hours of a missing child investigation are key and Lausten said some people muddied the search.
"We've had people that haven't been totally forthcoming with us regarding information," he said. "We've had people that have lied to us about information, so it's been frustrating."
Searchers are going back to Walnut Creek Recreation Area Tuesday, another location Ryan liked to visit. They will use an underwater drone and special sonar equipment.
Last summer, they lowered the water level and cadaver dogs detected human decay but police don't know if that's Ryan's scent.
"With the water clearing up, we just want to take another look," he said. "Something's in there."
The chief has a message to those who know what happened to Ryan. He said it's time for someone to do the right thing.
"This is about him. This isn't about someone who may have information that is scared and that is thinking they will get in trouble," he said. "Somebody knows something and somebody needs to tell us."