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More than 80 leads generated in search for missing North Carolina 6-year-old with special needs

Posted at 9:34 AM, Sep 25, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-25 11:05:35-04

(WCNC/NBC News) Investigators are following up on dozens of leads as they search for a 6-year-old boy who disappeared from a Gastonia, North Carolina park Saturday.

Gastonia police are asking anyone who was at Rankin Lake Park Saturday to contact them.

"We have spoken to many people who were there, but we want to make sure we talk to them all," Chief Robert Helton said. "No piece of information is too small. Something you may think is insignificant could be helpful to our case."

Chief Helton said law enforcement expanded the search about two miles Monday and used drones to fly over the area. He also said officers were checking dumpsters.

Federal Bureau of Investigation supervisor Jason Kaplan showed pictures to the media of the shirt and shoes Maddox was wearing: An orange shirt that read, "I'M THE MAN" and sandal-like shoes with closed toes.

Kaplan also said Maddox's mother and father recorded messages for searchers to play as they looked for Maddox in the hopes that he would respond.

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