Search Continues, Few Leads Released In Missing Fruitland Boy

FRUITLAND, ID — With the search for a 5-year-old Fruitland boy missing now over a week, Fruitland Police Chief JD Huff updated the press on the status of the search.

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The following is the statement provided by Huff.

"To begin, we are just beyond the one week mark in our search for our missing and endangered 5-year-old Michael Joseph Vaughan. I have to tell you that I spent my entire childhood in the neighborhood where Michael went missing. My children are growing up here. My law enforcement partners are mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, or friends of children just like Michael. We are all in and we are committed to finding Michael.

As you know, Michael was last seen near his residence on SW 9th St. at approximately 6:30 pm on Tuesday, July 27, 2021. The first missing and endangered child alert went out at 8:20 pm with four different alerts to email, phone calls and texts messages being issued to area residents until 11:20 pm that night. Michael’s image and information went out to a nationwide law enforcement database known as NCIC (National Crime Information Center).

Since the time of notification, the Fruitland Police Department, FBI, Idaho State Police, with assistance from the Boise Police Department and 13 different Idaho law enforcement Agencies conducted complete and methodical and thorough searches.

That search has included nearly 200 residential homes and properties and interviews with all of the residents.

5-year-olds can get into things. We have looked through nearly 200 garbage cans, drained canals and irrigation ditches, and pumped a septic tank in the area that had a make-shift 2x6 wooden lid. We have gathered over 60 different video files from residential and business security cameras and are combing through that data as we speak.

To date, we have received 163 tips. All have been assigned to investigators for follow-up. Many have already been cleared. Others are being worked on as we speak.

We have conservatively estimated the number of man-hours from law enforcement agencies only to be in the 2,500-hour range. That doesn’t include our fire, EMS, search and rescue partners, or the hours put in by volunteers from our community.

I have never seen a police presence like this before and on behalf of Michael’s family and the citizens of the City of Fruitland, I sincerely extend our thanks to all of the Chiefs and Sheriffs who have come to our aid providing manpower and resources over the last week and in the weeks to come. I would also like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to our friends and residents in the primary search area of SW8th St., SW9th St., Crestview Subdivision, Hidden Meadows Subdivision, and the Three River’s Way Subdivision. Your patience with our investigation doesn’t go unnoticed. We have been through your homes and in some instances several times. I truly appreciate your help.

Our search and rescue efforts include the assistance of our citizens from the night Michael went missing to the present. I thank you and ask you to continue to search your property as, again, 5-year-olds are crafty and can get into small places.

Since notification, we have conducted an exhaustive ground search employing the Idaho Fish and Game, Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue Team, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, both Fruitland and Sand Hollow Fire Departments, and a coordinated search effort by citizens.

We have methodically and thoroughly searched over 3000 acres of farm ground with multiple certified canine teams.

We have searched 29 miles of riverbank using private fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, sophisticated drones, boats, boats with canines, kayaks, and paragliders.

I’m unsure of the number of man-hours involved in this effort, but I’m sure it would mirror the investigative effort.

Drone flights will continue, along with river bank searches by boat.

This morning, the search continued into the area below SW8th St. where some heavy foliage was removed and a specialized canine deployed.

In the near future, we have a dive team scheduled to search ponds in the slew area near the SW 8th St.

Our intensive search and rescue efforts will continue as long as we have resources available.

We know people in this community and elsewhere are concerned about Michael. We will continue to issue updates as best we can and as the investigation allows.

To our local media, thank you for working with us. It’s difficult to respond to every individual inquiry. We will try to address your questions in the updates we issue, and we appreciate your patience.

Please understand, we cannot detail the nature of some of the information we’ve received or are looking into. We do not want to release anything that could jeopardize our ability to find Michael.

What I can say is we have not eliminated any possibility.

Social media can be a great tool, but sadly, can also be a hindrance to sharing accurate information. If there is a development in this case, I will notify you. If the information on Facebook or any social media doesn’t come from me or the Fruitland Police Department, you need to consider it suspect. Rumors, speculation, and innuendo complicate our investigative efforts. We really appreciate the community’s support in this.

Back to NCIC. Michael’s information as an endangered Missing Child was entered into NCIC (National Crime Information Center) database as soon as possible after he was reported missing. That means if Michael is found by law enforcement anywhere in the country, he’ll be identified and we’ll be notified.

What can people do?

If you live in the immediate area, please thoroughly search your property, if you’ve looked once look again. Look in all outbuildings and vehicles. Walk fence lines. We also ask residents to review any security camera footage for any sign of a small child in the area. We continue to say this, but children move around and wander, they may have traveled back into your yard without your knowledge.

If you know something, perhaps you’ve been unsure, even afraid to reach out to us and share it, we’re here, we want to listen to what you have to say.

We are very grateful for the public’s assistance and again, we’re following up on each lead we receive. Our Investigators are laser-focused and morale is good. We support each other. We are committed to finding Michael and will leave no stone unturned.

We also want to emphasize Michael/MJ’s family continues to be fully cooperative with law enforcement. We ask the community to be respectful of their privacy.

Michael was last seen wearing a light blue Minecraft t-shirt, dark blue or black boxer briefs with a green stripe, and child’s size 11, blue flip flops. He stands 43 inches tall, is 50 lbs., with blonde hair and blue eyes. He answers to the nickname “Monkey.” If you see Michael/MJ or have information, please call the Payette County Sheriff’s Office at 208-642-6006 Ext 0."

Huff said an additional dive team is expected in the area soon to conduct a search of the Snake River. In addition, a reward announcement may be forthcoming.

"This search and investigative effort is a day-by-day situation," said Huff. "As long as I have the resources available to me, we’ll put them to work."

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