DeOrr Kunz Jr.'s parents (Photo: Paul Boehlke/KTVB) 
 
 LEMHI COUNTY -- The Lemhi County sheriff announced Monday that the parents of missing toddler DeOrr Kunz Jr. have been named suspects in his disappearance. 
 
 Sheriff Lynn Bowerman told KTVB that Jessica Mitchell and Deorr Kunz Sr. have been "less than truthful" since the investigation began. 
 
 "They refused to give us any further information to clear up the untruthfulness and they've changed their story on numerous occasions," he said. 
 
 DeOrr Kunz Jr. was reported missing July 10, 2015. His parents told authorities the boy disappeared during a family camping trip near Leadore. Search teams combed the area, but found no trace of the toddler. 
 
 MORE: New details released in missing 2-year-old, DeOrr Kunz Jr., case 
 
 Bowerman said he believes DeOrr's parents know where he is and whether he is dead or alive. 
 
 "They're not able to tell the same story twice because they've told so many stories, you know, getting changes in the story all the time," he said. 
 
 
 
 Bowerman says when he confronted the parents, they refused to give any additional information to clear up their inconsistencies. 
 
 The pair are not under arrest, and no warrants have been issued. Bowerman said he has met with prosecutors, the FBI and the Bonneville County Sheriff's Office and plans to take his time and make sure the case is solid before bringing charges against Mitchell and Kunz. 
 
 "We don't feel that the arrest is imminent, but we're leaving all options open," he said. "We don't want to jeopardize the investigation and charge them too early, for fear that we might find DeOrr and it might change." 
 
 Private investigators with Klein Investigations and Consulting hired by the family said earlier this month they had ruled out the possibility of an abduction or attack by a wild animal in DeOrr's disappearance. 
 
 Bowerman said he still hopes the public can help investigators by contacting authorities with any information that could help the investigation. 
 
 "We're asking the public at this time to come forward with any information that they might have concerning the parents and their interaction with their son DeOrr that they might have witnessed," he said. 
 
 The sheriff stressed that the naming of suspects in the case did not mean the hunt for the toddler was being pushed to a back burner. 
 
 "I want to find Deorr. That's my top priority. He's my victim here. That's my goal is to find Deorr Kunz and to solve this investigation," said Bowerman. 
 
 DeOrr is now three years old. He was two when he disappeared, but he turned three on Dec. 30. 
 
 The sheriff says he was holding off naming the parents as suspects because he wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt, and to see if any other information would come out that would prove otherwise. 
 
 Sheriff reponds to fundraising questions 
 
 Bowerman also says he wanted to release this information because his office has gotten a lot of calls from the public about whether they should donate money to help find DeOrr. 
 
 On Jan. 16, the family held a dinner, raffle, auction to help raise money to pay for the private investigator. 
 
 Trina Clegg, Jessica Mitchell's mother and DeOrr's grandmother, says the family has raised $15,000, and every penny of that is going to pay for the private investigator out of Texas. 
 
 We asked the sheriff about fundraising efforts, here is what he had to say: 
 
 "I'm getting a lot of calls from the public - should we donate money to help find Deorr Kunz? And I can't honestly say yes or no knowing that the family is less than truthful. I think it's only fair that the public knows that they are suspects that we are continuing our investigation and that they aren't being truthful." 
 
 DeOrr's grandmother says the family is no longer asking for money, but the website -- Miracles For Little Man -- will remain online. 
 
 Trina Clegg says someone else is running the website. Any future money that comes in will go toward other missing children's cases. 
 
 Click here to see all of KTVB's continuing coverage of this search. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://on.ktvb.com/1RIYUFE ||||| LEADORE, Idaho (KBOI) -- The Lemhi County Sheriff's Office has officially named the parents of missing toddler DeOrr Kunz as suspects in the boy's disappearance. 
 
 Sheriff Lynn Bowerman told KBOI 2News on Monday that Jessica Mitchell and DeOrr Kunz Sr., have been "less than truthful" with investigators during recent interviews. 
 
 "They are the top persons of interests," Bowerman said over the phone. "Does that mean they're suspects? Yeah I think so." 
 
 The boy has been missing since July 10 after he was last seen at his family's campsite at Timber Creek Campground, just south of the town of Leadore near the Montana border. 
 
 Bowerman says the couple agreed to a polygraph test, but when asked if they knew where there son was, red flags were raised. 
 
 "They are being less than truthful," Bowerman said. "They know something, I just don't know what they know. It causes me alarm. I believe they know where he is absolutely." 
 
 RELATED LINK: 911 call for missing Idaho Falls toddler released 
 
 
 
 The sheriff said the investigation began to turn in the second week of January after the FBI and behavior analysts turned over their findings. Detectives brought them in yet again for follow up interviews and they continued with their story, the sheriff says. 
 
 "I thought I'd give them another opportunity to tell us what happened, " he said. "I decided it was time the public knew what my concerns were -- I don't believe we have an abducted child." 
 
 Bowerman said he's been asked numerous times whether he'll file charges against the parents. But he says it's just too early. 
 
 "I'm not willing to jeopardize the investigation and filing (charges) too early," he said. "I want to make sure I got this right. 
 
 The boy's aunt, Tanisha O'Neal Tompkins, told our media partner KIFI in an exclusive interview that both Kunz Sr. and Mitchell are innocent. 
 
 "They have no motive at all," O'Neal Tompkins said. "They would gain nothing out of doing anything. I just want people to not be judgmental anymore and until there's facts, just please be quiet." 
 
 Tompkins says the family knows just as much as the public does, and that they want answers first. 
 
 Bowerman has asked the public to come forward if they had ever noticed any strange behavior between the couple and their son before his disappearance. ||||| DeOrr Kunz Jr. (Photo: provided by the family) 
 
 IDAHO FALLS, Idaho - The parents of a 2-year-old who's been missing since Friday believe the boy was abducted. 
 
 In a sit-down interview with East Idaho News, Jessica Mitchell and DeOrr Kunz Sr. said they have faith DeOrr Kunz Jr. is safe, but hope whoever took him will bring him home. 
 
 "If somebody has him please don't hurt him," Mitchell said. "Just bring him home safely where he belongs." 
 
 The family is based in Idaho Falls. They traveled to the Timber Creek Reservoir for a camping trip last week. 
 
 Kunz Sr. says the toddler was last seen with his grandfather around 2:30 p.m. Friday afternoon. 
 
 "Just in a split second, your whole world is upside down and vanished," he said. 
 
 Family members spent about 20 minutes looking for Kunz Jr. before calling 911 and search and rescue crews were brought in. 
 
 More than 100 people have combed through the area where the boy was last seen. That includes grid searches on foot, supported by people on horseback and riding ATVs. 
 
 Divers were also called in to search a small creek near the family's campsite. 
 
 "They assured me there is 100 percent no chance that he is in that water, around that water," said Kunz Sr. 
 
 DeOrr Kunz Sr. says a large-scale search for little DeOrr was suspended because no one has found any trace of the boy. 
 
 He believes his son isn't on the mountain anymore. 
 
 "There's a possibility that he may be with somebody and that's what is giving us hope, said Kunz Sr. "It's a bad thing that he would be not with us right now, but it also means there's a good chance that he is alive and with somebody." 
 
 The Lemhi County Sheriff's Office hasn't commented on that possibility and no AMBER Alert has been issued for the 2-year-old. 
 
 But his parents say they're not giving up. 
 
 "Hope is what keeps it going. The search is not over. It's not done. We will find him," said Kunz Sr. 
 
 "We'll continue to look until he's found," added Mitchell. 
 
 DeOrr Kunz Sr. also wants his son to know he hasn't been forgotten. 
 
 "We will find you and we love you more than anything in the world," he said. 
 
 Kunz Sr. and Mitchell told East Idaho News they're not sure who would take DeOrr Jr. 
 
 They added that during this tough time, support from family, friends and complete strangers who have reached out to help and pray for their son is what's keeping them going. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://on.news10.net/1IXUcia
– After Idaho toddler DeOrr Kunz went missing during a family camping trip in July, his parents said they were holding out hope that the 2-year-old was with someone, and that he would be returned to them. Six months later, the Lemhi County Sheriff's Office says "I don't believe we have an abducted child"—and the boy's mother and father are the top suspects in his disappearance, KBOI reports. "They know something, I just don't know what they know. It causes me alarm. I believe they know where he is absolutely," Sheriff Lynn Bowerman says, adding that DeOrr Kunz Sr. and Jessica Mitchell "are being less than truthful." Mitchell and Kunz Sr. say they left DeOrr with Mitchell's grandfather and went on a walk a short distance away but the grandfather thought DeOrr had gone to his parents. Bowerman says the investigation just recently took this turn, after behavior analysts and the FBI submitted their findings, and detectives brought DeOrr's parents in again for follow-up interviews. "I thought I'd give them another opportunity to tell us what happened," Bowerman says. Per KTVB, the sheriff says the parents "refused to give us any further information to clear up the untruthfulness and they've changed their story on numerous occasions." EastIdahoNews.com is re-running its interview with the parents from three days after their son went missing; the news organization notes it's the only on-camera interview they've given. "He's a goer and a mover but he does not go away from his parents," Kunz Sr. says in the video. "He's very attached to us," Mitchell adds.