Disappearance of Ryan Larsen

Ryan Larsen (born June 8th, 2009) is an American missing person who disappeared on May 17th, 2021, in La Vista, Nebraska. He left school to walk home and hasn't been seen since. Larsen has autism, but is high-functioning. He is described as a Caucasian male who is 5'8" and 125 lbs. He has brown hair and hazel eyes. He was wearing a black jacket, blue jeans, an Old Navy shirt, and was carrying a polka dot umbrella.

Disappearance

Larsen was last seen on May 17th, 2021, walking out of La Vista West Elementary School. He was a 5th-grade student there at the time. Larsen exited the school building midday, between classes, and began to walk home. A teacher noticed he had slipped out and alerted others at the school in hopes of catching up with him. He never arrived home and has not been seen since. A neighbor reported seeing Ryan walking near his apartment building on 83rd & Harrison St. at 1:50 p.m. on the day he went missing. Security camera footage at the Southfield Apartment Complex showed a boy walking that matched Larsen's description and is believed to be him. His family and others were very worried about his well-being since he had gone so long without his medication and possibly without food or water. On May 18th, 2021, there were two reported possible sightings of Ryan. A search party was sent out to look for Ryan near Walnut Creek Lake in Papillion, Nebraska. Despite all search efforts, there is still no sign of the missing child. The police began door-to-door searches for Larsen in La Vista and Ralston, Nebraska. Cadaver dogs were used around some bodies of water in and around La Vista, but nothing was found. The police department then began to look into sex offenders in the area in search of new evidence. On June 8th, 2021, the community of La Vista gathered to celebrate Ryan's 12th birthday and to raise awareness of his case in hopes that he would be found. On June 9th, 2021, the La Vista police department identified a woman who may have had information on Ryan's disappearance. Another potential witness was identified on June 17th, 2021. Ryan's family said that he had a history of hiding and running away, and he is believed by some to have wandered off. Foul play has not been ruled out. As of now, Ryan Larsen's current whereabouts remain unknown.

Public Response

The hashtag #FindRyanLarsen was started by some members of the La Vista community in order to raise awareness about the child's disappearance. Taylor Larsen, the sister of Ryan Larsen, spoke out about the criticism her family was receiving about their missing family member. Taylor described how broken and distraught her mother was because of how much she treasured Ryan. Ryan's mom, Tammy, attended the birthday vigil for her son on June 8th, but was not ready to speak out on the disappearance. Much false information was spread about the missing boy on social media, with some posts making false claims that an arrest had been made in the case, or that Ryan had been found.

If you have seen Ryan Larsen or have any information on his disappearance, please call the La Vista Police Department at 402-331-1353.

References

This article "Disappearance of Ryan Larsen" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Disappearance of Ryan Larsen. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

---