The search for a missing La Porte City teenager was scaled back this weekend. Jake Wilson‘s family said the autistic 16-year-old was last seen heading to a nearby creek one week ago Saturday — but after after a large search effort he hasn’t been found. La Port City Police Chief Chris Brecher told K-C-R-G T-V in a news briefing that the search is changing. “We’re at the point of our investigation now where we are going to be scaling back, significantly,” the chief says.

Jake Wilson

Brecher says they will now only do periodic checks when tips come in. The initial search effort to find the teen was massive. In a week’s time, hundreds of volunteers marched miles in cold and mud, reaching an about ten-mile radius from town. They checked high and low while specialized teams looked under the water. The search there largely focused on six miles of Wolf Creek.  “We are extremely confident, in the area that we have checked, we know this is where Jake’s not,” Brecher says.

Attention now largely turns to the investigation aspect of Wilson’s disappearance. Was he abducted? Was a crime committed? A multi-agency group will continue to work to find answers. Sheriff Tony Thompson again pushed for people to go online and upload video and images from the night Wilson was last seen. He hoped a lackluster start to the effort would turn around if people realized a camera may have inadvertently captured the key to cracking the case. Thompson says they need that one piece of information, one witness one piece of video or that one photo that could help them find Wilson.

(Radio Iowa)