New leads in missing DeOrr Kunz case

A new lead is being investigated by a private detective in the search for missing 2-year-old DeOrr Kunz Jr.

Kunz was reported missing from the Timber Creek Campground near Leadore on July 10.

After several weeks of searching, the family enlisted the help of Montpelier-based private detective Frank Vilt. Vilt said there have been several tips about a suspicious man nearby in Leadore and further away in Swan Valley, east of Idaho Falls.

The man is described as being in his 50s and having whitish, gray hair with curls at the bottom. He was driving a new-looking black Jeep Rubicon.

Kunz’s mother recalls seeing the man at a store in Leadore the morning of her son’s disappearance. Vilt said a couple reported seeing a similar-looking man July 18 — first while hiking in the Palisades and later at a convenience store in Swan Valley.

The woman who saw the man in Swan Valley asked Local News 8 not to identify her, but she said the man “was just staring at my family, just watching us.”

She said he kept looking at her husband and four children, including one Kunz’s age.

“My husband said to me, ‘That man creeps me out in about 12 different ways,'” the woman said.

She said the man was sitting in his Jeep while she and her family ate ice cream outside the Rainey Creek Country Store in Swan Valley.

“I tried to wave at the man because he was obviously watching, and he, at that time, turned his head,” the woman said.

The woman told Local News 8 she reported the man to law enforcement in Lemhi County July 19 after hearing reports of Kunz’s disappearance.

Friday, she said she relayed the information Vilt, who now sayshe hopes to have a sketch of the man next week.

If you’ve seen him, Vilt’s asking you call his hotline at 888-852-6505 . He’s offering a $10,000 reward for credible information regarding Kunz’s whereabouts.