WCNC-TV, Charlotte, N.C. GASTONIA, N.C. — Four days after search crews found a boy's body in a creek here, the North Carolina State Medical Examiner's Office identified the remains as 6-year-old Maddox Ritch. Maddox's body was found Sept. 27. The boy disappeared Sept. 22 when he got away from his father and another adult at Rankin Lake Park. “We are deeply saddened to learn the body found by searchers last Thursday is confirmed to be Maddox Ritch,” Gastonia Police Chief Robert Helton said. “Hundreds of people searched tirelessly for this child and our work continues to answer every question we can about his tragic death.” About 180 searchers came out to help find the missing boy Thursday, according to Gastonia Fire Chief Phil Welch. Like Helton, Welch said the day Maddox's body was found was a very sad day. "There is no sense of accomplishment today," Welch said. "There's grieving." ► Sept. 27:Police believe they've found body of Maddox Ritch, an autistic 6-year-old ► Sept. 26:Search for autistic North Carolina boy grows more desperate in fifth day ► Sept. 24:Massive search underway for autistic, nonverbal child in North Carolina On Sunday, funeral plans for Maddox were made public. Visitation will be Oct. 4, and a funeral will be the next day at the same location before a private burial. When police officers found the child's body, Maddox’s parents were notified immediately. Formal identification had to wait for the state medical examiner’s office, Gastonia Police said. FBI Supervisor Jason Kaplan said it was too early in the investigation to know whether foul play factored into Maddox's disappearance. "The investigation is not over," Kaplan said. "In law enforcement, we will not take anything for granted. A lot of people have lost sleep." On Wednesday, Ian Ritch, Maddox' father, took questions from reporters at the Greater Gaston Baptist Association in Gastonia. Ian said Maddox took off running in the opposite direction of him and his friend Saturday at Rankin Lake Park. "He usually runs but will stop to give me a chance to pick him up," Ritch said. Ritch said his son's disappearance left him sleepless for several days.. "I feel guilty for letting him get so far ahead of me," Ritch said. Investigators say they're still looking for witnesses as they wait for the autopsy results. Authorities hope talk to joggers who were at the park Saturday, as well as a man whom Helton said may have been among the last to see Maddox. "A white pick-up truck, I think it was a crew cab truck, had running boards loading a silver kayak out of the water," Helton said. "He had a camouflage hat on. ... So he was coming out of the water right around this time. We need to talk with him." Follow WCNC-TV, Charlotte, N.C., on Twitter: @wcnc<doc-sep>EMBED >More News Videos Maddox Ritch, a 6-year-old with special needs, has been missing since Sept. 22. His father Ian spoke to ''Good Morning America'' about his guilt and the day his son went missing. GASTONIA, N.C. -- Search crews discovered Thursday a body believed to be missing 6-year-old Maddox Ritch, a little more than one mile from where his father had last seen him.In an emotional news conference after the discovery, Gastonia Police Chief Robert Helton tearfully told reporters, "this is not the end that we had hoped for. "Rankin Lake Park will remain closed until police can answer questions about what exactly happened after Maddox, who is autistic and nonverbal, went missing.FBI supervisor Special Agent Jason Kaplan said at the news conference that the investigation is not over. "You should not take away anything from that except to understand that, in law enforcement, we will not take anything for granted," he said. "So there is a lot of work and a lot of people who have lost a lot of sleep committed to continuing to making sure we answer every question that we can about where Maddox was, how his movement occurred and how it was that he ended up where he did. "He added that it was amazing that Maddox was found. "It was extremely difficult to see him even when we were standing right next to him," Special Agent Kaplan said.Authorities said the depth of water was about 2-3 feet where the body was found, but there are various depths in the creek. He was partially submerged in the water.FBI officials said it is too early to say whether foul play was a factor.Police still want to talk to witnesses who were in the park on Saturday, the day Maddox disappeared. Specifically, authorities said they want to talk to a man who was loading a silver kayak into a white truck. The man was reportedly wearing a camouflage hat.Maddox went missing on Saturday, Sept. 22, at Rankin Lake Park in Gastonia. The city released a 911 call made by a park employee.According to the boy's father, Ian Ritch, Maddox was about 25 feet to 30 feet away before he broke into a sprint just as a jogger passed them. The father said he is a diabetic and, because he has neuropathy in his feet, he has trouble running. "He likes running," Ritch said. "I couldn't catch up with him. I feel guilty for letting him get so far ahead of me before I started running after him. "Formal identification of the body will be done by the medical examiner's office.<doc-sep>GASTONIA, N.C. -- Authorities confirmed Monday the body found last week in a North Carolina creek was a 6-year-old boy who went missing days earlier.Gastonia police announced in a statement Monday that the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed the body found last week was Maddox Ritch. Police say it's not clear when autopsy results will be complete.Police Chief Robert Helton says "work continues to answer every question we can about his tragic death. "Ian Ritch said on Sept. 22, his son ran off at Rankin Lake Park in Gastonia. He said he couldn't catch the boy because he has neuropathy in his feet because of diabetes. Maddox's body was found days later in a creek east of the park.A funeral is set for Friday.<doc-sep>
A body found in a creek last week was identified as that of Maddox Ritch, a 6-year-old boy with special needs who went missing in North Carolina, authorities said Monday. “We are deeply saddened to learn the body found by searchers Thursday is confirmed to be Maddox Ritch,” Gastonia Police Chief Robert Helton said in a statement. “Hundreds of people searched tirelessly for this child & our work continues to answer every question we can about his tragic death,” he added. Maddox Ritch. Gastonia Police Dept. Gastonia Police said in the statement that the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed that the body found in Long Creek, near the park where the boy was last seen, was identified as Maddox. Autopsy results were not yet complete and investigators were still working to determine Maddox’s movements and how he ended up in the creek, according to the statement. “The autopsy results and the death certificate have been left pending at this point,” Bill Fish, an investigator with the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner’s Office, told NBC News. Maddox, who had autism and was nonverbal, went missing at Rankin Lake Park in Gastonia on Sept. 22, police have said. He had last been seen by his father and another adult. The body was found partially submerged in the creek by a member of a team of 15 searchers, authorities said. The creek was about two to three feet deep, according to authorities. The FBI and two dozen agencies had worked to locate him, with searchers scouring more than 1,400 acres in and around the park the weekend he went missing.