Mysterious Case Files.
What Happened to DeOrr Kunz Jr.?
Timber Creek Campground is set in a wooded area in north central Idaho near to Montana.
The campground has two creeks running on either side of it and is a popular camping site for
Idahoan families during the summer months.
It was on July 10th, 2015, that a two-year-old toddler by the name of DeOrr Kunz Jr, went
missing at the campground.
He had been there since the day before with his mom and dad, as well as his great-grandfather
and a friend of the latter.
And then, suddenly, the little boy just vanished.
What happened to DeOrr Kunz Jr?
Did he wander off and somehow get lost?
Or was he abducted by a stranger, as his family claims must have happened?
Or did something more sinister happen to little DeOrr?
Are his family perhaps even implicated in his disappearance?
No definitive information is yet known about what really happened to DeOrr.
This video will attempt to offer as much of what we know about the case as possible.
A Camping Trip
Early on July 9th, 2015, Vernal Kunz and Jessica
Mitchell left their home in Idaho Falls on a two-hour, 120-mile trip north.
With them was their two-year-old son, DeOrr.
Along for the trip was also Vernal’s grandfather, Robert Walton, who would have been DeOrr’s
great-grandfather, as well as friend of Robert’s named Isaac Reinwand.
They were on their way to Timber Creek Campground near Stone Reservoir in Lemhi County, Idaho.
The last part of the trip would have taken them along the rocky track from the local
town of Leodore to the campsite.
The road is a complete deadend, with the campsite situated at the very end.
DeOrr was a happy little boy, who was always smiling and hardly ever cried.
Even at his young age he had become a seasoned camper and had enjoyed these trips in the past.
Upon arrival, the family set up camp and spent the night in two separate tents.
Vernal and Jessica say they took DeOrr to a general store the next morning of July 10th
as they wanted to shop for supplies and snacks after cooking up a full breakfast at the camp.
That morning, DeOrr was wearing oversized cowboy boots, a camouflage jacket and pajama pants.
Little DeOrr Goes Missing
They returned to the campsite and Jessica
and Vernal would say they decided that they wanted to explore the woods on their own,
as well as look for some fish in the creek.
They left DeOrr with the boy’s great-grandfather and ventured off.
Vernal said they made it 50 yards from the site before discovering some minnows in the
creek, which they thought DeOrr would love to see, so they ventured back to where they
had left him.
Vernal would say, “I walked up the embankment and when I looked over, he wasn’t in his
chair and he wasn’t with his great-granddad”.
Vernal asked Robert Walton where DeOrr was and the older man purportedly replied in a
shocked tone: “I thought he was with you!”
It didn’t help that the elderly Robert was hard of hearing, he also used an oxygen tank
to help with his breathing.
Some reports suggest Robert was also suffering from Alzheimer’s.
After speaking to Robert, the parents say they shouted out for their young son but soon
realized he was nowhere to be found.
The parents claimed that after about 20 minutes, Vernal drove their pickup from the campground
to try and get some cell service.
It was 2:28pm Mountain Time on July 10th, 2015, when DeOrr’s mother first reported
him as missing to police.
It later transpired that she had stayed behind at the campsite.
The Initial Search
The two-mile radius around the area had officers
from the Lemhi County Sheriff’s office scouring the scene within an hour of DeOrr’s disappearance.
Soon after, Search and rescue crews began combing the landscape in all-terrain vehicles,
or ATV’S, while divers searched inside of the nearby reservoir.
Within 12 hours, nearly 200 volunteer searchers from all over Idaho were helping to look for DeOrr.
A helicopter with thermal imaging cameras flew over the area for most of the night but
saw nothing.
In the meantime, about 120 miles away from the campground, a cashier at Wal-Mart spotted
a man buying packs of diapers and clutching the hand of a small boy with blond hair and
hazel eyes.
The boy’s description was an identical match for DeOrr.
The worker called 911 and cops rushed to the store to make inquiries.
The man from Wal-Mart was located the next day and police were able to ascertain that
the boy he was with was not DeOrr, but his own son.
By that next day, Saturday, July 11th, the search for Deorr was in full swing.
Searchers were on horseback, ATVs, on foot, and were looking in the surrounding creeks.
The main focus was the two mile radius around the campground.
One area of particular concern was a creek about 15 yards away from the campsite, given
its close proximity to where DeOrr was last presumed to be.
The creek was four to six feet in width and about a foot deep - enough to drown or at
least sweep a toddler away.
That area was searched numerous times but to no avail.
More False Leads
After two days of fruitless attempts to find
Deorr, the ground search was called off.
Divers continued concentrating on nearby Stone Creek Reservoir but found nothing.
However, cadaver dogs kept getting false leads in the vicinity of the reservoir.
By pure coincidence, it turned out that a man had deposited cremated ashes on the very
same day that DeOrr disappeared.
Hence all the false leads for the cadaver dogs.
There was yet another false lead a few days later when a missing child was found hundreds
of miles away in a motel in Stanton, California, who looked very much like DeOrr.
Local investigators soon found out that the boy in the California motel wasn’t DeOrr
and that his mother had been frantically looking for him.
By this time, the Lemhi County police decided to call in the FBI.
Detective Penner of the Lemhi County Police would say: quote “Timber Creek Campground
has a secret that needs to be revealed”.
Issues and Conflicting Reports
Odd behavior and inconsistencies from the
four adults in the group arose almost immediately.
Police eyewitnesses claimed that during the first interview, Jessica's body language was
angry and hostile toward Vernal.
The parents initially said they were together when the child went missing, yet, according
to Robert Walton’s friend, Isaac, they were not together.
Issac would claim he and Jessica went to the creek together and that Vernal and little
Deorr were to follow, but never showed up at the creek.
When pressed with that version of events, Vernal would state that DeOrr wanted to be
with his great-grandfather and so walked back to their campsite.
But where did the boy go and why would his father allow his two-year-old son to wander
anywhere unattended, especially in a wooded area?
Furthermore, the claim by Jessica and Vernal was that they contacted the police within
20 minutes of their son disappearing.
However, timeline analysis showed it was more like an hour later.
It seems odd to many that the parents would take so long to call the police after discovering
their 2-year-old child was missing.
Some have also questioned the need for Vernal to jump in his truck and race down the road
to find more than one bar on his phone.
“She called, and I was in the truck hauling down to the road, trying to get service.
Because, I didn’t think one bar would get it.
So, she got very, very lucky.
I was blessed that she was able to get service, because I don’t want to try and risk, getting
half way through my call to talking to the police and have it cut off.”
After all, GPS-locating suggests that Jessica was able to phone the police from right there
at the campsite.
These same people contend that Vernal may have used that time as an opportunity to remove
DeOrr’s body from the scene of a possible accident or even a murder.
However, Isaac’s aforementioned testimony was not pristine either, given that his body language
in subsequent interviews with the media was deemed ‘unsettling’, as if he were hiding something.
There have also been claims that Isaac is rather suggestive, given that he does have
diminished mental capacity.
The investigation and search for DeOrr was also botched from the very beginning.
People were all over the place searching, and possibly messing with what could have
been a crime scene.
In addition, Vernal was allowed to go out searching on an ATV, which is not standard procedure.
Usually in these types of cases, any persons of interest, which must include parents, are
kept close while investigators do their work.
The Grandfather’s strange remarks
Robert Walton, the great-grandfather at the scene that fateful day, only ever gave audio
interviews, refusing to appear on TV.
People have noted how he consistently referred to DeOrr as “the kid” or “that kid”
in interviews.
That type of terminology can be a tell-tale sign in psychology that a guilty person is
trying to distance themselves from the subject.
He also seemed to laugh at what would be considered inappropriate times.
Even more unsettling was that, when asked the questions: “What does your heart tell
you happened to little DeOrr?” and “Do you know where little DeOrr is?”, both responses
were met with cackling laughter by Walton.
The Case Takes A Turn
It was in January 2016, 6 months after DeOrr’s
disappearance, that the lead investigator in the case, Lynn D. Bowerman, revealed to
local media that the two parents were prime suspects in the mystery.
Bowerman revealed that the FBI had found the parents to be, in his words: - “less than
truthful in their polygraphs and a lot of irregularities and discrepancies in their
interviews…”
In July 2016, a search was undertaken of the parent’s home and the Camo Jacket DeOrr
was allegedly wearing when he disappeared, was found within the apartment complex.
This reinforced Bowerman’s suspicions that the parents were hiding something.
However, despite this, Neither Jessica Mitchell nor Vernal Kunz were ever formally charged
or arrested for the disappearance of their son.
A real twist in the case was that of Philip Klein.
He was hired by the family as a private investigator or PI for the case.
Amid great controversy, Klein would resign just a few days later, claiming that he’d
always told the family he would only help investigate DeOrr’s disappearance, if he
believed that the family were telling the truth.
And he claimed that the parents were not being completely truthful with him.
PI Klein agrees to this day with what the police also suspect.
He and his team conclude there was an accidental homicide and that one or more people in that
group of four adults knows what happened to little DeOrr.
Klein went even further, stating that Jessica had told his investigators that she knew where
the body was.
Within hours of his claims, Klein was fired by the family and an attorney was hired to
sue him in a defamation suit.
The Lawsuit
The family sued Philip Klein of Texas-based
Klein Investigations and Consulting for breach of contract, infliction of emotional distress,
libel, slander and fraud.
The family lost the lawsuit and District Judge Bruce Pickett denied an appeal in the lawsuit
against PI Klein.
Klein retaliated by demanding that the Kunz family pay him unpaid fees.
In a news release, Klein blasted both of DeOrr’s parents, He would state: “After 31 years
of doing our jobs, we have seen this 100 times.
We are out of the case, but do what we told you both to do years ago.
Stop lying, tell the truth, and put this matter to an end.
You have an obligation to your DeOrr, your family, the public of Idaho and that of the
United States”.
Follow-Up Investigations
Investigators returned to the campsite in
late June 2019 to focus on an “area of interest” in the search for DeOrr.
David Marshburn was a private investigator working with the Search for Me Foundation,
and he spent a few days in Lemhi County at the behest of Sheriff Steve Penner.
Marshburn brought with him two trained search dogs.
He says, his search dogs signaled what he called “a hard alert” for human remains
in one particular area.
He also noted that his dogs are trained not to react to animals.
Marshburn conceded that another human body could have been at the location but would
not reveal whether law enforcement had actually uncovered any human remains.
Mashburn would write on his Facebook page: “We can not confirm or deny anything at
this time!
We will be returning to North Carolina because we feel our part is done”.
Penner confirmed that his police department worked with Marshburn and said to local media:
“I can tell you we have focused and will be focused on an area of interest for the
next few weeks.
I can confirm no new evidence has been collected at this time, and we continue to investigate
this case.”
Latest Status Quo
As of the time of this video, the Lemhi County
Police continue to believe that DeOrr Kunz Jr. was almost certainly murdered or, at the
very least, died accidentally and his was death was covered up.
The county’s lead police investigator, Bowerman, has reiterated that the police are treating
the case as a “probable homicide”.
Even though Sheriff Lynn Bowerman publicly named Vernal and Jessica as suspects, the
parents continue to deny that they had anything to do with DeOrr’s disappearance.
Robert Walton passed away in June 2019.
According to his daughter, Robert took his sadness and guilt for taking his eyes off
DeOrr to his grave.
Both he and Isaac Reinwand were named as persons of interest at the time of the lead investigation
but, like Vernal and Jessica, were never charged or arrested.
Possible Theories
There are many theories as to what might have
happened to little DeOrr.
One theory is that he may, indeed, have been abducted, even though the Lemhi County Sheriff’s
Office has officially ruled that out.
The next theory is that DeOrr may have wandered off, got lost and died of exposure and his
body may still be somewhere near the Timber Creek Campground.
Another theory is the possibility that there may have been an animal attack.
This Animal might have grabbed and then killed DeOrr.
The campground was in a fairly remote, rugged part of Idaho and wild animals such as wolves,
bears, and lynx can be found in the region.
Although, this does seem unlikely due to the fact that no trace of blood, clothing, or
the oversized cowboy boots Deorr was wearing that day, have ever been found.
The next theory is that it may have been a homicide.
The twist is, that this homicide could have either been intentional or unintentional.
The local police believe it most likely to be the latter - that would mean someone or
some people know what happened to DeOrr that day, that is, he died accidentally and there
was a subsequent cover-up.
When Questioned by the media, Jessica admitted she felt Issac Reinwand could have been responsible
for DeOrr’s disappearance.
She said there were red flags from day one.
Jessica claims Reinwand seemed upset they had brought DeOrr on the trip.
On the day of the disappearance, she said Reinwand didn’t join in the search, was
drinking heavily in his tent, and had apparently restored his cell phone to factory settings
on more than one occasion.
Lastly, there is another, even more bizarre theory, and that is speculation by some conspiracy
theorists that DeOrr may have never made it to the campground at all.
This theory contradicts Isaac Reinwand, who insists that he saw DeOrr the morning of his disappearance.
However, according to the sheriff, there were actually no credible witnesses to confirm
that they had definitely seen DeOrr at the campground.
Those who believe this theory, suggest something happened to DeOrr prior to going camping,
and that the trip was used as a cover story.
What Happened to DeOrr Kunz?
There have been many changes in the Kunz family since DeOrr disappeared over four years ago.
Since then, Vernal moved to another state for a truck-driving job, while Jessica met
and married another man within eight months of DeOrr’s disappearance.
Trina Bates Clegg, Jessica’s mother and DeOrr’s maternal grandmother, told local
media in 2019 that the family is still wondering what could’ve happened the young boy.
Trina claims that Sheriff Steve Penner has told her to remain strong and to continue
being patient.
Trina would go on to say: “Honestly I still have hope that he’s still alive but everyone
keeps saying that at this point, he’s probably not alive.
I still want that two and a half-year-old boy brought back to us.
I can’t lose hope, but I’m losing hope he’s still alive”.
Trina and the rest of the family are still waiting for answers.
So, after being presented with the facts of this case: what do you believe happened to
two-year-old DeOrr Kunz Jr.?
Do you feel he wandered off and died after encountering a wild animal or perished from
exposure?
Do you believe he may indeed have been abducted after all?
Or do you think there was foul play of some sort, perhaps even involving one or both of
his parents?
For now, the case remains one of the most baffling missing children cases in not only
recent Idaho history, but recent American history too.