🐒DeOrr Kunz Jr.🐒
Timber Creek Campground is the only campground on the west side of the park. Located at 8900 feet along the Colorado River about eight miles north of the Grand Lake entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. Supposedly there is a mountain pine beetle infestation caused most of the trees to be removed, so there is no shade at campsites. I'm not sure how long ago the infestation happened and how long the trees have been gone for.
This is where 2-year-old DeOrr Kuntz Jr.'s parents, Jessica and DeOrr Kunz Sr. said there son disappeared from in July 10th, 2015.
DeOrr Jr., Jessica, DeOrr Kunz Sr., Jessica's grandfather, Robert Walton and his friend Issac Wren decided the'd all go camping together. They packed two trucks and headed for Timber Creek Campground, where Robert use to camp in his younger years. When the family arrived to the camping spot, it was late at night on July 9th and everyone went to bed.
The next day, they all had breakfast and then DeOrr Sr. and Jessica took their son to a store. When they returned Issac wanted to fish by himself, while DeOrr Sr. and Jessica left DeOrr Jr. with his grandpa so they could go exploring. DeOrr Sr. and Jessica didn't make it very far before allegedly coming across some minnows that they thought DeOrr Jr. would love to see and so they turned back around. When DeOrr Sr. came back to get his son, DeOrr Jr. wasn't there. DeOrr Sr. asked Robert where his son was, he said that he last saw his grandson under a tree and thought that the little boy went with his parents.
The family began their search for DeOrr Jr. They all searched up and down the creek and up and around the campsite for 20 minutes with no sign of the little boy. His dad and mom then got in the truck and drove down the road to make a 9-1-1 call.
9-1-1 Operator: "What's the address of your emergency?"
Jessica: "Um, i'm actually camping in Leadore, just outside of Leadore. Um, my two-year-old son, um, we can't find him."
9-1-1 Operator: "How long has he been missing?"
Jessica: "About an hour."
9-1-1 Operator:"An hour?"
Jessica: "Yeah."
9-1-1 Operator: "Jessica?"
Jessica: "Yeah."
9-1-1 Operator: "Ok, what was he wearing?"
Jessica: "Cowboy boots, a blue um pair of pajama pants, and a camo jacket."
9-1-1 Operator: "How tall is he? Hello?"
Jessica: "I, i'm not exactly sure he's about three."
9-1-1 Operator: "Are you there?"
Jessica: "Yeah."
9-1-1 Operator: "Okay."
9-1-1 Operator: "Is your husband calling too?"
Jessica: "all down here where we are camping at and we can't find him at all."
9-1-1 Operator: "Okay, we need you to stay within cell service."
Jessica: "Okay."
9-1-1 Operator: "We've got people on the way."
Jessica: "Thank you."
Search and rescue crews arrived within 12 hours to aide in the search for DeOrr Jr. After two days of searching the search is called off. Then 120 miles from the campground, a cashier at a nearby Wal-mart spotted a man buying boxes of diapers with a blonde haired hazel eyed little boy in tow. The worker called 9-1-1 and reported what he saw. The next day, the police tracked down the man and determined that the boy that had been with him was not DeOrr Jr.
The searched then resumed for DeOrr Jr. and this time focus on nearby Stone Reservoir that sat above the campsite. The water was pretty shallow and dive teams spent days combing every inch. It was discovered that someone not related to the case had dumped human remains there. The FBI then joined the investigation into DeOrr Jr's disappearance.
A month into little DeOrr's disappearance, retired U.S. marshal, announced that he would conduct his own private investigation.
Billboards went up and DeOrr Jr's family did one final search before winter.
The search went cold and DeOrr Jr.'s family gets a letter from the retired U.S. marshal that stated he was withdrawing from his investigation. He said that he felt that the family misrepresented the true facts that could solve the mystery of DeOrr Jr.'s disappearance. The family then hires another private investigator, David Kline.
January 25th, 2017, police announced that Jessica and DeOrr Sr. are now suspects in their son's disappearance. The couple failed their polygraph tests that were administered by the FBI and there was inconsistencies in the various interviews conducted by authorities.
Jessica and DeOrr Sr., were evicted from their home. David Kline looked through the belongings the couple left behind and noticed matchbox cars that the little boy's parents said were missing. He also found the camo jacket that the parents said that their son was seen in when he disappeared. David Kline came to the same conclusion that the previous private detective did, that Jessica and DeOrr Sr. were lying. David also claimed that Jessica told someone on his team that she knows where little DeOrr's body is, but wouldn't discuss it any further. DeOrr Jr's parents then fired Kline and hired Alan Browning to dispute David's claims. Despite being fired, David then announced that he was still on the case due to an anonymous person who is funding his investigation.
In spring of 2017, once again investigators search once again for clues surrounding little DeOrr's disappearance bared no fruit. Also, Jessica, who was engaged to DeOrr Sr. married another man and DeOrr Sr. accepted a truck driving job in another state. Robert wouldn't speak to anyone about his grandson's disappearance, while Issac claimed he had no idea what happened to DeOrr Jr. Issac was the only one out of the three who's story never wavered.
A year after little DeOrr's disappearance, the authorities have ruled out the possibility that he was attacked by an animal or abducted and now they are leaning towards it to being a homicide. They also are starting to believe that the little boy was never at the campsite.
Fast forward to June 2019, and police taped off the site where the family had camped when DeOrr Jr. allegedly disappeared. Cadaver dogs alert on human remains there, but there is no news as of yet in whether it has to due with little DeOrr.
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