As rumors swirled that a boy found in Evanston was not themissing Tristen “Buddy” Myers, federal investigators said Thursdaythey would reveal results of DNA tests at a press conferencetoday.
Reports in national media Thursday said preliminary resultsshowed the boy brought into an Evanston hospital was not the NorthCarolina 6-year-old. Ross Rice, a spokesman for the Federal Bureauof Investigation, blasted journalists for citing anonymous sourcesin the reports, which he would neither confirm nor deny.
“I think (the journalists) were irresponsible and inaccurate,”Rice said. “We don’t know if it’s (Myers) or not, so we’re notgoing to guess.”
Myers’ family remains optimistic the DNA tests will show theunidentified boy to be Myers, said Jackie Cox, a familyspokeswoman.
“We’re not taking any of it to heart,” Cox said. “Until we hearfrom the FBI or law enforcement directly, we’re still hanging on tohope.”
When The Daily informed Cox of the FBI’s plans to announce thetest results, she said she was upset the family hadn’t beencontacted directly.
“I would assume the family would be privy (to new information)or told prior to the media,” Cox said.
Donna Myers, Tristen Myers’ aunt, was called in to the SampsonCounty Sheriff’s Office on April 1 to view pictures of a boy whohad appeared in Evanston and looked like her nephew. Tristen Myersdisappeared from his home in Roseboro, N.C., on Oct. 5, 2000, Hewas then 4 years old.
The unidentified boy, known as “Eli Quick,” was brought to St.Francis Hospital, 355 Ridge Ave., on February 3 by Ricky Quick, 33,of the 3900 block of West Carmen Ave. in Chicago. Quick said he wasthe boy’s father. Nurses called the Illinois Department of Childrenand Family Services after seeing the boy’s condition.
“This boy was just incredibly dirty and the alleged father keptthreatening to take him away,” DCFS spokeswoman Jill Manuel said.”(Hospital staff) deserve credit for making the call.”
The unidentified boy has been attending school and receivingcounseling from DCFS, Manuel said. He has not given social workersan indication of his true identity.
“He doesn’t really identify himself,” Manuel said. “He reallyisn’t saying anything. We are calling him Eli.”
The DNA tests should correctly determine if the boy is TristenMyers, said Maureen Smith, a genetic researcher atNorthwestern.
“They can rule in or rule out a person as a parent withrelatively high accuracy,” said Smith, the clinical director forNUGene, a genetic project based at the Chicago Campus.
Smith said results can take longer in DNA tests where geneticinformation is not available for both parents. In this case, theunidentified boy’s DNA is being compared with that of TristenMyers’ mother, Raven Myers.
If DNA tests reveal that the boy is Tristen Myers, his aunt willhave custody, Cox said.
The Daily’s Evan Hessel contributed to this report.
