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‘Somebody knows something’: Volunteers search for missing La Vista boy with autism in Nebraska
LA VISTA, Neb. —
Bring ‘Em Home Nebraska is continuing the search for a La Vista boy with autism who disappeared over five years ago.
Ryan Larsen would be 16 years old this year. Authorities say he walked out of La Vista West Elementary School in May 2021 and has been missing ever since.
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Bring ‘Em Home Nebraska is a statewide non-profit with the goal of finding people who have been reported missing in the state of Nebraska.
The group said they picked up Larsen’s case two months ago. Sunday night, they hosted a search for Larsen at Walnut Creek Lake. They said this was the first step in their investigation.
“We’ve definitely got a few leads,” Bring ‘Em Home Nebraska founder Erik Rezabek said.
Groups of volunteers combed through seven different sections of the bank near the lake. Walnut Creek Lake has been searched multiple times since Larsen went missing.
Rezabek said just because this area has been searched before doesn’t mean that something new cannot be seen now.
“The main goal is to either find out that Ryan was never out here. And but like our ultimate goal is to find something that places him out here,” Rezabek said.
Rezabek said there are two ways they will stop searching: one if they find Larsen, and two if his family asks the group to stop.
Many people who are also not ready to put the case to rest showed up ready to search Sunday night.
“If it was one of our kids, we want all the help we can get,” Jacquelynn Degner, a volunteer, said.
“It’s a life. It’s a young life. So I think any kind of answers about it would be it would be a revelation and comfort for everybody,” Volunteer Toni Stella said.
Bring ‘Em Home Nebraska said their greatest asset in this investigation is the public.
“Somebody knows something. And the more people we can put that in front of, you know, Ryan’s case, maybe somebody will be like, oh, wait, I did see something that day,” Rezabek said.
Rezabek said the group’s next search will be a vehicle search southwest of Omaha. He said the group will post more details soon.
Bring ‘Em Home Nebraska’s investigation into what happened to Ryan Larsen is completely separate from the La Vista Police Department’s investigation.
La Vista Police said they have no new updates in their investigation.
Click this link here to donate to Bring ‘Em Home Nebraska’s search for Ryan Larsen.
