Lemhi sheriff: DeOrr case is still ‘very active’
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STATEMENT FROM VERNAL KUNZ
Vernal Kunz, the father of DeOrr Kunz Jr., issued the following statement to EastIdahoNews.com in connection to his missing son:
It’s been extremely hard. Not an hour goes by that I don’t think of my amazing little boy.
The unopened Christmas and birthday gifts, the daily thoughts of what happened that day, why and who and what to do or where to look next. It gets extremely frustrating to come up blank.
I miss my son more than anything. I have hope and faith that I will have my son again.
To this day, I do not know what happened on that horrific day on the 10th of July. Most don’t believe that. They just judge what they see on social media, and that’s OK.
One day I will find my son and have him in my arms and prove everyone wrong and live my life once again as a complete man and father.
I love and miss you, Goob. I’ll never give up on you, son.
Till I see you again.
Love,
Daddy
SALMON – It’s been more than 18 months since DeOrr Kunz Jr. vanished while on a camping trip in Leadore.
There has been no sign of the Idaho Falls toddler, who was 2 years old when he disappeared, and nobody has been arrested.
But Lemhi County Sheriff Steve Penner tells EastIdahoNews.com the case is still very active.
“We’re working on this nearly every week,” Penner says. “We’re reviewing old information, receiving new tips and conducting interviews.”
Penner was the Lemhi County Sheriff’s Office chief deputy when DeOrr was reported missing in July 2015. He was elected sheriff in November when Lynn Bowerman retired.
Penner was one of the first investigators to respond to the Timber Creek Campground on July 10, 2015 when DeOrr’s mother, Jessica Mitchell, called 911.
“My 2-year-old son … we can’t find him,” Mitchell told a dispatcher around 2:30 p.m. that day. “He was wearing cowboy boots, pajama pants and a camo jacket, and he’s got shaggy blond hair.”
LISTEN | MOTHER’S 911 PHONE CALL RELEASED
Mitchell and her then-boyfriend, Vernal DeOrr Kunz, were camping with Mitchell’s grandfather, Robert Walton, and Isaac Reinwand, a friend of Walton’s.
After numerous searches of the campground and surrounding areas, no clues of DeOrr’s whereabouts have ever been found.
Last January, Bowerman named Kunz and Mitchell as suspects in DeOrr’s disappearance, but the parents were never charged or arrested. They maintain they have nothing to do with their child vanishing.
Penner has spent thousands of hours working on this case in conjunction with the FBI and the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office.
“We’re still getting reports of occasional DeOrr sightings,” Penner says. “We investigate all of them and follow up on any new information that comes in.”
Penner won’t say if he believes there will a break in the case soon, but promises investigators are “pursuing all avenues” and won’t stop until it’s solved.
“We’re working hard. We haven’t forgetten about this,” Penner says.
DeOrr Kunz Jr. Chronology
Search for missing 2-year-old in Lemhi County
A closer look at the campground where DeOrr disappeared
DeOrr Kunz disappearance: A timeline of events
Grandma of missing 2-year-old: “He just vanished”
Heartbroken parents of missing 2-year-old: “We’ll find you, son”
Lemhi sheriff: “We do not suspect foul play”
Lemhi County chief deputy: “We have new leads in DeOrr case”
DeOrr investigator: “I think we know how; we’re just trying to figure out why”
DeOrr’s parents named as suspects in child’s disappearance
Kunz investigator: Jessica Mitchell knows where DeOrr’s body is
Lemhi sheriff’s office talks social media conversation in DeOrr Kunz case
Eaton: Answers to questions you’ve asked about the DeOrr Kunz case