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'I'm heartbroken': Father of missing boy opens up about disappearance

GASTONIA, N.C. — Days after a father said his 6-year-old son disappeared from Rankin Lake Park in Gastonia, he opened up to PEOPLE.

[SEARCH FOR MADDOX: Mother of missing boy says ‘I just want my baby home']

Ian Ritch told the magazine he’s overcome with guilt and wishes he had done things differently while he and little Maddox were at the park on Saturday.

He’s quoted saying, “These past few days have been hell for me. I’m so broken. I’m heartbroken. Every time it gets dark at night I burst into tears because I’m thinking, ‘My little boy is out there alone.’

[RELATED: Neighbors trusting 'power of prayer' in desperate search for missing boy]

Ritch told police Maddox, who has autism, ran off around the back side of the lake and was never seen again.

“I was terrified. I didn’t know which direction he went, so I looked as hard as I could. I went different ways and everything,” the father told PEOPLE. “I tried to find him. I don’t know where he went. Usually, when he takes off running, he’ll slow down and stop for me to catch up with him. This time he never stopped.”

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