Without a Trace: The DeOrr Kunz mystery

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Timber Creek Campground a quiet secluded area in a remote part of Lemhi County driving it takes about two hours headed north from Idaho Falls it's a beautiful spot and it was here at this very campsite where D or Koontz's parents say their two-year-old boy vanished one year ago it was a day just like today when everything changed we're looking for your son and we will find you and we love you more than anything in the world somebody has him please don't hurt him just bring him home safely the tearful pleas of a heartbroken mother and father you have a lot of people love you and are looking for you buddy we'll find you Bernal Coons and Jessica Mitchell parents of two year-old Dior an adventurous blond-haired hazel eyed boy with an adorable smile he's mommy's boy and daddy's little mini-me this is his blanket he doesn't go anywhere without his blanket his cup or his monkey I need my daughter they have her son back I mean Dior have his son back and this is a family we just we need that little boy it was a warm July weekend when this small family decides to go camping with Jessica's grandfather Robert Walton and his friend Isaac Wren wand and that was the first time you've ever seen Jess courier that van is correct they pack two trucks hit the road and end up at Timber Creek Campground a spot walton used to visit as a young man did they have anyone in the back seat with them or anything as far as I know only the first one having will do your back in the back seat it was you know Chelsea Chelsea was he how did he seem peppy and you seemed just like a normal happy outgoing kid you know the group arrives late on July 9th and everyone goes to bed the next day starts off normal the order is just wandering around playing stuff after breakfast vernal and Jessica take Dior to a store Inlet or they return and Isaac wants to fish on his own while Jessica and vernal leave Dior with Robert we decide we're going to go a little switch floor and he was going to be good with Grandpa by the campfire when I come back up to get him and I yelled over to Grandpa where's little Dior he immediately shocked he says I thought he came up to you the family begins to search for the toddler who's wearing oversized cowboy boots a camouflage jacket and pajama pants that's when I know the follows up their own original walking pacing back before I asked him what was going on and he said full of yours missing those like what after 20 minutes of up and down the creek and up and around the five the camp and he wasn't there that's when I got my pickup truck and drove down the road try and get some service what's the address of your emergency I'm a desperate champion in red one um nice figure of fun um we can't find them search and rescue crews respond and within 12 hours volunteers from all over Idaho arrived to search for Dior we ended up with probably a hundred and seventy searchers and we had a helicopter with FLIR capability come in they flew it at night when we resumed the the next day they came back and flew again after two days with no sign of the boy affectionately called little man the volunteer search is called off then 120 miles from the campground a possible break a cashier at the Amman Walmart spots a man buying boxes of diapers clutching the man's hand a blond hair hazel eyed boy the worker calls 911 to the store as family and friends gather across town for a candlelight vigil near the God of all comfort Comfort the heart of Jessica Dior and trina Lord and just those who love this little boy Lord Jesus we will find him one way or another we will find him no matter what it takes we want people to know his face and when they leave their house we want people to know to be on the lookout for our son the next day police tracked down the man spotted at Walmart and determined the boy is not Dior meanwhile deputies in Lemhi County continue to scour Timber Creek Campground the chief investigator saying these mountains hold a secret that will eventually come out you go over and over and over the same ground quite a few times the bonneville County Sheriff's Office joins in as divers focus on nearby stone reservoir this is the reservoir that sits above the campsite the water is pretty shallow in fact I could walk across to the other side and it still wouldn't cover my head dive teams spent days here combing every inch of this reservoir and then they learned that someone not connected to this case had come in and dumped human remains here that's why dogs were continually leading their handlers here we begin tonight in the bizarre case of a two year old boy who mysteriously vanishes at an Idaho campground people all over the world begin hearing about Dior as the Lemhi County Sheriff makes a major announcement the FBI is now joining the investigation we've given them lots of items who analyzed we're basically trying to cover all of our bases it's been one month since Dior Koons vanished and his parents receive an unexpected offer to help find their son a retired US Marshal living in Montpelier announces he will conduct his own private investigation nor jr. had cowboy boots on Frank Vil sits down for an interview with Jessica Mitchell and Vernal Coons by his side they sit silent wearing orange shirts featuring photos of their son we have a nationwide telephone number for tips I was hoping that people might say well you know the Celso couple didn't have a boy last week now they have a boy where the boy come from that's unusual anything like that could be as it was a good tip as bill begins his investigation Lemhi County law enforcement continued theirs we're still asking the public to help us if they have any information tips pour in from all over the world about where the boy could be some people claim possible sightings and then on a quiet september afternoon this photo spreads like wildfire on social media missing child found at motel 6 in stanton california 2 to 3 years of age brown eyes blonde hair about 30 to 35 pounds doesn't talk much if any information on who might know this child contact stanton pd ASAP detectives in idaho reached out to investigators in california but quickly learn this boy is not d or every two and a half year old blond hair looks just like Dior this child's mother was looking for him after he wandered away and he goes home safe billboards featuring Dior's image start to go up in Idaho and other states and Dior's family holds a final search of timber Creek Campground before the winter trying to go over double turn double wear what's been searched go over it again what hasn't been searched anything that may have been overlooked little pockets things like that it's actually easier right now than it was in July you know to be able to walk through the trees and look down and be able to move things around there's too much ground to cover to say that we've covered everything so we're kind of doing that now I'm trying to get that done before the snow comes you winter arrives and it seems the case has grown cold no sign of Dior no significant clues and then out of the blue private investigator Frank Vil sends a letter to Jessica and vernal I am withdrawing from the investigation because of circumstances beyond my control I told both of you that if I felt you were not telling the truth stalling me or otherwise misleading me that I would withdraw from the investigation in my professional opinion both of you lied and misrepresented the true facts that could solve the mystery of your missing son you hope for him to come home you hope you hope to find him Jessica and vernal agreed to sit down for an interview with Jessica's mother Trina Bates Clegg and her father Jerry Mitchell he's my grandson and stuff I love him to death and I would do whatever it takes to get him back we just beg everybody to please keep your eyes open and look around listen because we know that there's answers I hope that he's okay and in my mind that's what keeps me going that he's okay and if he's with somebody and it is an abduction that's what I hope for because if he's up there closure is fine but it's not my little boy too for me to raise for me to take by the hand and show me what dads do with their signs to show him the things and teach him like I I'd look so forward to do to doing with him you Bernal repeats the words of deputy Penner that Timber Creek Campground has a secret that needs to be revealed the family announces they're raising money to hire Philip Kline a private investigator based in Texas Klein is confident he can help solve the case we're getting there we promise you we're getting there this is a very solvable case we won't get there please let's bring him home for Christmas the holidays arrived and on December 30th Dior turns three years old a private candlelight vigil is held with prayers and hope for answers January 25th it's been over six months since Dior vanished and Lemhi County Sheriff Lynn Bowerman makes a bombshell announcement vernal and Jessica are suspects in their child's disappearance after a week of interviewing re-interviewing and an announcement from the FBI that they were being less than truthful on their polygraphs and a lot of irregularities and discrepancies in their interviews I felt it was necessary to come forward and say that the parents are being less than truthful bernal's father is outraged they have no right to do this they have no right it sounds like the sheriff is pretty confident that Jessica and Dior were involved but you don't believe that's the case they have no evidence they have not shown me one bit of evidence to support anything nothing and until they give me something besides words as evidence I want them to shut up private investigator Klein says his findings line up with Bowerman's why would I write us why would I not just tell us the truth Jessica and vernal remain free and are not arrested but Klein makes a serious allegation about Dior's mother I have not announced to you today Jessica herself has told investigators on our team she knows where the body is but she will not go all the way and finish her story within hours of his public statements the Coons family fires Klein and hires attorney Alan browning who disputes Klein's comments I recommend that Vernal should file a defamation suit against mr. Klein browning says I'm outraged that when no evidence has been brought forward in this case that Klein continues to make outlandish claims how would you like it if you hired a private investigator to find your son and when he can't he makes statements that you are a criminal and should be charged despite the termination Klein announces he's staying on the case claiming an anonymous person is paying him to continue his investigation spring arrives at Timber Creek Campground investigators closed the site for two weeks and are out once again hunting for clues areas surrounding the campsite have been thoroughly searched in fact last fall when searchers were out they would tie ribbons to trees indicating that that area had been looked over and here a year later missing Dior pictures still posted although faded despite an in-depth search nothing substantial is found and it seems once again that the case has come to a standstill there are some areas now that I think we can be pretty certain marquees where the or is not when do you think there will be some resolution any idea I don't at this point you know we just will just keep working do you think it will be solved there again if we can you know we'll just keep working at it and hopefully we can bring it to closure meanwhile Dior's parents are making big changes in their lives as vernal accepts a truck driving job in another state and Jessica who was engaged to vernal Wendy or disappeared marries another man as for the other people at this campsite Robert Walton refuses to speak publicly about the case and Isaac Ryan wand maintains he doesn't know what happened and the last time you saw baby do you or what was your impression of him that you can remember the last time seeing him that he was no I'm fun just like I said he is just like normal just like a normal - you're you having fun the only thing looking at looking at different exploring looking at different things you know can you say 100% for sure baby Dior was up there yes I can tell you that much that he was up there do you think that's possible that it had today happened okay yeah it could have been an active kind of an NX um you know could be possible do you think kidnapping is possible that he was kidnapped you know okay say I could it could be possible to you know it could be possibly he was kidnapped something happened you know accidental some sort D or need to be found you know people need closure you know everybody know so everybody can just calm down and everybody can you know go back to your life and everything at least you know let Pete people to know what's going on that if they can find him or what it'd be nice do you think they'll be a resolution I'm hoping for the best in there will be the one-year anniversary of Dior's disappearance approaches People magazine features the story on its cover as sheriff Bowerman appears on national television we've all been you know sort of puzzling over this trying to put the pieces together was it a murderer was it an accident or how do you figure this one out well I'm moving more and more towards it being a homicide strictly because we ruled out the the abduction we ruled out wild animals and just just your general plot tells you that if there was an accident there's no reason not to come forward state the facts let us look at the little Dior and say yeah we agree that's what happened and we can move on with their lives but none of those things that happened so the fact that we have no credible witness at this time that can clearly state he was at the scene not only am I not believing you was ever there but I'm believing it we have honest his statements are bold but no one is arrested and as the one-year anniversary of Dior's disappearance comes and goes all four people on that camping trip with the child remain out of jail there were four people there we've been working really hard for years researches interviews investigations running down leads we haven't been able to clear any of those people that were in the campground was it I love you I love you real victim here is little dealer I just want to find him do you think he will be found I just pray that you will yeah there's going to be a lot of people watching this disheartened that it's been a year since you disappear what's your message to use the average person that's interested in this case that just wants us little boy found well you know we all want the same thing we all want you know some type of closure for it and we're just going to keep working we're going to keep pursuing the truth and and hopefully eventually we'll be able to resolve these mountains have a secret we've heard it from law enforcement we've heard it from Dior's parents we've heard it from others the question is will that secret ever be known you

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Channel: East Idaho News

Views: 965,001

Rating: 4.4698005 out of 5

Keywords: DeOrr Kunz, missing child, Idaho Falls, Idaho, mystery, disappearance, Nate Eaton, EastIdahoNews.com, special report, documentary

Id: kaZDMMnIv9E

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Length: 20min 22sec (1222 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 01 2016

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