Prayer vigil held for missing 13-year-old boy
Despite whipping cold wind, dozens gathered at Limbach Park Sunday night in Monument for a prayer vigil for Dylan Redwine, a much-loved 13-year-old boy who disappeared just two weeks ago in the mountains near Durango.
The Lewis-Palmer Middle School student was described by friends and family as an energetic and outgoing boy, who was able to build a solid group of friends in the area even though he and his mother had only moved to town a few months ago.
“He’s just a little doll,” said Nancy Gephord, Dylan’s step-grandmother. “He was so full of life.”
Gephord said Dylan’s charisma captured the heart of the puppy he’d gotten in August. The dog would follow him around and wouldn’t pay heed to anyone else.
“He followed Dylan everywhere,” Gephord said, her eyes misting.
At the Sunday gathering, people shared memories about the boy and voiced prayers for his safe return.
Zack Stowell, 14, was a classmate of Dylan’s. When asked about Dylan, Stowell said with a small grin that Dylan was popular in a lot of circles, and was one of the kids who could always nail “the popular kids in gym class, when we were playing dodgeball.”
“He’s one of those kids who was good at everything,” Stowell said.
Nicole Yost, 30, one of Dylan’s cousins, said the missing boy was “super, super sweet,” and recalled how Dylan played Spider-Man with his younger cousins, even though entertaining the 3- and 5-year-old.
Yost talked with both a smile on her face and tears in her eyes about how Dylan’s favorite band was Puddle of Mudd, and that when he was three years old, he had memorized their song “Blurry.”
“He used to sing it at the top of his lungs when we’d go online and put the video on,” Yost recalled with a quiet laugh.
Maria Goodall, Dylan’s grandmother, said the family didn’t care how Dylan went missing as long as he comes back safely.
“We just want him back. No questions asked,” Goodall said. “I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. I can’t do anything. He has to come home.”
Dylan’s disappearance shook even those who barely knew him in the small town.
Kathy Kemp, a Monument mother who ran the vigil and spoke about the tragedy, said she’d never even met Dylan.
“This is a small community. That makes him family,” she told the gathering.
Dylan’s mother Elaine Redwine wasn’t at the vigil, but she had sent a note to Kemp, which she read solemnly to the gathering.
“Dylan loved the school and the friends he made,” Kemp read. “Don’t lose hope. He’s out there somewhere.”
Gina Smith and her two sons were also at the vigil. Like Kemp, they didn’t know Dylan either. But they are friends with Dylan’s soon-to-be stepfather, Mike Hall, who coached both of Smith’s sons in hockey.
“It’s just heartbreaking,” said Gina Smith. “We’ll keep praying for him. It’s just hard to believe there are no clues.”
People with information on Dylan’s disappearance may call the Dylan Redwine Tip Line at (970) 382-7511.
Durango-La Plata Crime Stoppers has a cash reward for information leading to The boy’s whereabouts. Crime Stoppers can be reached at (970) 247-1112. Tips can also be turned in to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at (800) 843-5678.—Contact John Schroyer: 476-4825Twitter: @JohnschroyerFacebook: Gazette John Schroyer
Participants at a vigil for Dylan Redwine pray Sunday, December 2, 2012 for the thirteen-year-old who has been missing since November 19. At left are vigil organizer Kathy Kemp and Tony Miller, youth pastor of the Tri Lakes Chapel in Monument.The vigil was held at Limbach Park in Monument. Photo by Mark Reis, The Gazette Photo by MARK REIS, THE GAZETTE
Participants at a vigil for Dylan Redwine pray Sunday, December 2, 2012 for the thirteen-year-old who has been missing since November 19. At left are vigil organizer Kathy Kemp and Tony Miller, youth pastor of the Tri Lakes Chapel in Monument.The vigil wa Photo by MARK REIS, THE GAZETTE
Dylan Redwine Photo by La Plata County Sheriff’s Office