Missing boy's body found

By KRISTI ALBERTSON

The Daily Inter Lake

The search for 3-year-old Loic J.M. Rogers ended tragically Friday night when law enforcement officials found his body in a septic tank barely 10 feet from where he disappeared Wednesday.

An autopsy report cites drowning as the cause of death.

"This is a tragedy. This truly is a tragedy," Flathead County Sheriff Mike Meehan said at a press conference Saturday.

Meehan would not speculate whether the drowning was an accident. No one has been charged with any crime.

"The investigation into how Loic got into the septic tank is being conducted currently," he said. "However, it is too early into this investigation to speculate. My office will conduct a thorough and professional investigation into this matter."

Meehan said once the investigation is completed, the case would be turned over to County Attorney Ed Corrigan to determine whether charges are warranted.

Loic's father, Mark Rogers, told law officers he took his son out to his van at about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday after having dinner at a friend's house on Maple Drive in Evergreen. He said he told the child to get into the van, then he returned to the house for another child.

When he returned outside minutes later, Loic was gone. Meehan said Friday that Rogers did not explain why he left his son outside on a dark, foggy night instead of putting him in the van.

After searching for 20 minutes, Rogers called authorities and notified his estranged wife, Ariel, that Loic was missing. Dispatch recorded his call at 7:08 p.m.

After initial searching through the night Wednesday, more than 200 volunteers turned out Thursday to look for the toddler, and nearly 100 showed up Friday. Members of many national public safety agencies, including the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service, A Child is Missing, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Immigration Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol, joined the search as well.

A host of Flathead Valley fire departments, rescue units and law enforcement agencies also helped search.

After two days of "very intense, hard, investigative work," authorities determined Loic probably was not outside a certain search perimeter, Meehan said. At that point Friday, officials began a criminal investigation that included a more thorough examination of the home where Loic disappeared.

The home's owner, Tommie Cates (a friend of Mark Rogers) readily agreed to stay elsewhere Friday night so authorities could search her property, Meehan said.

About 15 to 20 investigators from the Sheriff's Office, the FBI and Secret Service searched the house and property Friday night, Meehan said.

At about 9 p.m. they found Loic's body, clad in the same clothes he was wearing when he disappeared.

Searchers had checked the septic tank on the first night of the search, Meehan said, but at that point, they weren't looking for a body.

"We did not look in every little nook and cranny," he said. "We were looking for a happy, smiley little boy."

The rectangular tank was full to "within inches" of the top, Meehan said. The child may have been in a corner where searchers couldn't see him when they looked in the tank Wednesday night.

The lid was in place when the search began, he said, which is why the septic tank wasn't pumped immediately.

"The information we had was there was a child by the vehicle, and he wandered off," he said. "Our initial response was to start searching the area."

A manhole-sized lid covered the tank. The boy could have lifted the lid, Meehan said.

"It's not very heavy."

Whether he could have replaced the lid behind him is something authorities are investigating, he said.

"I would be speculating, but I would say [it is] highly unlikely," Meehan said.

The Sheriff's Office investigation will take four or five more days, he said.

During an interview Friday, Ariel Rogers confirmed that she and her husband were involved in a custody battle for their three children. Mark was given temporary custody during their separation.

"I want the kids and so does he," she said. "We love our children. He would never to anything to hurt our children."

One of Loic's parents has taken a polygraph test, but Rick Rasmussen, special supervisory agent with the FBI, refused to say which parent or release results.

On Saturday, Ariel Rogers' father, Ron Weprek, urged authorities to investigate Mark Rogers further. Weprek said his family has tried to prove for the last few months that Rogers is not a competent father.

"Mark has to be a suspect," he said. "Whether he's guilty or not, he was at least negligent. Somebody's lost their life because of it."

Weprek said he at least wants the Sheriff's Office to remove Loic's siblings from Mark Rogers' care.

"I want my other two grandchildren out of that house," he said. "They're sheriffs. Why can't they do it?"

Meehan said Saturday that he did not believe there were any safety issues with the other children.

"It is my opinion they are not in danger," he said.

According to Tim Keeler, Ariel Rogers' stepfather, "We're just looking for answers. We're not looking to point fingers at anybody.

Ariel Rogers, who is expecting her fourth child in March, was hospitalized Saturday so doctors could monitor her after she learned of her son's death.

"I want to know that my other two children are safe in that man's care," she said in a tearful interview with KAJ-TV on Saturday. "He was supposed to be looking after him, he was supposed to be safe there, and he wasn't."

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.