The disappearance of 5-year-old Michael Vaughan continues to haunt an Idaho community four years later.
"This is one of the worst-case scenarios for any small city," Chief JD Huff told KTVB-7. "When I stated that at the beginning of this case, we wouldn't stop and that we're working on it daily, I can honestly tell you that that has happened."
Vaughan disappeared from his home in July 2021. Police have received more than 2,000 tips regarding the case, the TV station reported.
"He's energetic, very inquisitive ... he wants answers to everything," Vaughan's mother, Brandi Neal, told KTVB-7. "[He] loves the moon and the stars. We still hang his stocking. He still gets birthday presents; Christmas presents. They're all waiting for him."
Police dug up a neighbor's yard based on information they had received, but the boy's body was not found.
One of the home's residents was charged with failing to report a threat, but those charges were later dismissed. Four people lived in the nearby home at the time of Vaughan's disappearance.
"I believe that at the end of this, there will be accountability for those who perpetrated the crime," Huff told KTVB. "It's been said in the past ... no body, no crime type ... and I would just tell you that I don't believe that holds water. And the only reason I say that is because [of] the volumes of circumstantial evidence that you can obtain."
