Body of Tallahassee teen who went missing identified

Karl Etters | Tallahassee Democrat

Four years passed as Ivan Aguilar’s family pleaded for his safe return home after he took off in the middle of the night on his bike.

Monday, they got the word no parent wants to hear.

Bones discovered last August by a person walking their dog about 10 miles west of the family’s Mastic Lane home turned out to be Ivan’s. DNA analysis of the bones, found off Whippoorwill Drive near Blountstown Highway, matched the samples taken from family members. He would have turned 19 in January.

Leon County Sheriff’s Office investigator Sgt. Teresa Howard said foul play wasn’t suspected in his death although his bike was never recovered.

The back story: Ivan Aguilar missing for 3 years

Howard was a leader in the digital and physical search for Ivan. She combed social media and the dense Apalachicola National Forest, talked with his friends and connected with the family.

“There is a lot of grief there at the moment,” she said of his family. “On one end, there is closure for them but on the other end it’s obviously very difficult to accept it because there was hope he was alive and one day would come home.”

Ivan and his family left El Salvador in 2008, moved to Ohio for several months then settled in Tallahassee the following year.

He was only 15 when he got on his bike at about midnight on May 8, 2014, after a squabble with his parents over his sexting with a girl. He pedaled away from his home off Highway 20 and was never seen again.

Just before he left home, Ivan messaged his best friend, told him he was running away and asked him to go with him. He said he was going to go into the woods to get away. Ivan ended up leaving alone.

The next day, his younger sister said he hadn't shown up for school. His parents noticed his bike was missing and found his cell phone, which had been restored to factory settings.

Ivan's disappearance was an unusual runaway case, Howard said two years after he went missing. He didn't have a history of running away or bad behavior and his social media presence stopped abruptly. In most cases, runaways usually come home, then leave again, she said.

A video made with the help of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was shared nationwide on his birthday in 2016 in the hopes it would draw attention to his case and solve the mystery of his disappearance.

17 year old Ivan Aguilar missing 17-year-old, Ivan Aguilar, has been missing since May 8, 2014. His remains, found last year in a wooded area 10 miles from his home, were identified Monday.

His parents have asked for privacy as they deal with the latest news. Over the years, they have said they felt partly responsible for pushing him to leave home.

"Maybe one day I probably upset you and I'm asking for your forgiveness," a choked-up Antonio Aguilar said in a 2 1/2-minute video, which included Ivan's somber younger brother and sisters.

"We don't see happiness here. Everyone needs you. We're going to do whatever it takes to find you. I love you. We'll always be waiting with open arms."

Howard spent years personally invested in the case. She met with Ivan’s family and translated for them when they spoke with media, pleading for their son’s safe return.

On Monday, she teared up talking to reporters about the discovery that the bones were Ivan’s.

“It’s difficult,” she said. “I have created a bond with the family so it is very personal to myself to see that family, to see that mother every year. Every time we communicate, she is constantly crying. Hopefully, they can begin to grieve and have some closure now that they have an answer.”

Contact Karl Etters at ketters@tallahassee.com or @KarlEtters on Twitter.