The volunteer search for a missing teenager from Reedsville is suspended.
"Honestly, still, I don't believe it. I don't feel empty, I don't feel him gone yet. But we didn't think it would take this long,” said his mother, Carrie Holton.
17-year-old Jevon Lemke was swept away by a rip current while he was on vacation with his family in Alabama back in March. Holton made a difficult decision to come home Wednesday, without her son.
"I walk into my house and he's everywhere. He's everywhere here in town. He's just a staple in the community. Everybody knows him and everybody who does know him says he was respectful,” Holton said.
"Every time we were with him, it was laughs, and we never stopped smiling and through all of the hard times that he had and I had, we all were there to back each other up,” friend Reed Hacek said.
Holton has been in Alabama since her son disappeared, organizing continued search efforts on her own, saying her military experience helps her cope.
"I was a medic, we prepared yourself for this. I know what it looks like; I know what the ugliest of death looks like. It doesn't prepare you for anything like this,” Holton said.
Now the community continues supporting Jevon's family.
"It's breathtaking, I kind of lost faith in humanity a little bit, and the people of Reedsville and Brillion and the surrounding areas as well as everybody down at Dolphin Island, they've restored my hope, and my faith,” Holton said.
She's pushing for more safety along shorelines, and never giving up hope that Jevon could come home.
"Nobody thinks he gave up. We know Jevon and he doesn't give up for anything,” Hacek said.
"Miracles happen every day, and until I have some kind of solid proof, I'm not going to give up hope. He's a fighter,” Holton said.
You can help by donating to Holton’s GoFundMe page.
