Jayden Robker
GLADSTONE — Police in Gladstone have confirmed the body pulled from a pond near Englewood Vista senior apartments off Englewood Road and North Central Street in Gladstone is that of missing 13-year-old Jayden Robker of Kansas City. Gladstone Police, U.S. Marshals, Kansas City police, the FBI and members of the highway patrol were on the scene Friday, March 10, combing the wooded area around the pond for evidence. A diver entered the water and removed the remains from the pond to a bank near a tree line before the body was taken to the medical examiner’s office for an autopsy. Robker had been missing from his nearby neighborhood in Kansas City in the area of Northwest Plaza Drive and Northwest Plaza Avenue since Feb. 2. He was last seen leaving to sell Pokémon cards. Gladstone police Capt. Karl Burris said preliminary autopsy findings show no apparent signs of foul play. Investigators are still looking to determine how the teen ended up in the pond. “Gladstone and Kansas City Police Departments continue to investigate. No further statements are anticipated unless or until further information is developed,” he said. “The officers of both agencies extend their deepest sympathies to Jayden’s family.”
GLADSTONE – A relative said a body that was recovered from a Gladstone pond Friday, March 10, matches the description of missing teen Jayden Robker. The relative made the announcement in a Facebook group dedicated to searching for the missing 13-year-old, who lived a short distance from the area near the pond.
Robker’s family and dozens of community members had been canvassing where he was last seen near the QuikTrip on Northwest Englewood Road since he disappeared. Hundreds of fliers had been handed out. Good Shepherd Church in Gladstone, the Robker’s family church, held a 13-hour prayer and candlelight vigil in honor of the 13-year-old earlier this month. His aunt, Susan Deedon, was one of his relatives who handed out fliers and helped conduct searches in the area where he disappeared. She created a Facebook group called “Searching for Jayden,” which now has been renamed “Honoring Jayden.” Deedon told Kansas City reporters there aren’t words for the kind of hurt her family feels. “I handed out fliers in the Keller Williams parking lot with his body laying not that far behind me. My brother and myself searched three ponds. Had I known that pond was there, I would have searched it as well,” she wrote on a post in the Facebook group Sunday, March 12. “But, I have to have the belief that God knew what he was doing by not giving me that knowledge.” Robker’s mother, Heather Robker, told Kansas City TV reporters the last month of her life has been a nightmare. “Just the overwhelming feeling of just crying and not knowing, but knowing, ... it’s words you can’t even describe,” she said. “I miss my son.” Jayden Robker was the oldest of six. His mother told reporters his siblings are struggling without him. “They stated that they’re going to miss Jay and that they wish they could talk to Jay,” Heather said. “It’s just hard for all of us right now. My son was only 13 so he had a lot to live for.” Community members have started a memorial at the entrance of Lakeview Terrace, the community where Jayden lived. There are flowers, photos and stuffed animals including Pokémon characters. “Please, please, please do not hesitate to show love for Jayden,” his aunt wrote on Facebook. A candlelit vigil will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 15, at the Gladstone pond where Jayden was found. A celebration of his life will be from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. with a funeral service at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, March 18, at Good Shepherd Church, 2800 NE 64th St. “This is open to the public,” his aunt wrote on Facebook. “Please wear purple. It was his favorite color.”
Jayden Robker
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