Okla. Teen Missing in Ecuador Possibly Spotted in Truck, Family Says
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Find August Reiger/Facebook(BANOS, Ecuador) — A high school valedictorian from Oklahoma who has been missing for more than a week in Ecuador might have been spotted on the back of a truck headed toward the Amazon rainforest, the family told ABC News.
August Reiger, 18, went missing June 16 while on a family vacation in the resort town of Banos. His family says someone reported seeing a boy who looked like August miles away from where the family last saw him.
“Yeah the police told us some girl that had seen his picture called and said somebody that looked like him,” Chris Reiger, the teen’s father, told ABC News.
Chris said the family set out for a Father’s Day hike on a hillside near their hotel when the teen vanished.
“We were walking on the trail that comes from just down by the hotel right up there. We stopped there and took a picture of August,” Chris said pointing to the spot.
Chris said his son decided to hike ahead of the family and that was the last time they saw him.
The family has remained in the area, scouring for clues and any trace of August. Authorities have also thoroughly searched the hillside since the family reported the teen missing.
“I just take it moment by moment. Moment by moment and focus on what I’m doing right now,” August’s mother, Randa Reiger, said. “Of course there are times that it’s really hard and the emotions come up.”
Worried loved ones have created a Facebook page to share news stories in the search for August.
“We’re in a state of shock and disbelief,” Randa said.
August was the valedictorian of the Classen School of Advanced Studies in Oklahoma City and is planning to attend college in the fall on a scholarship.
Later on Wednesday, the Ecuadorian government is expected to announce a reward for information in the case.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio