The FBI has joined the search for a Reedsburg boy who has been missing for nearly two months, officials said Thursday.
Federal investigators have been providing “technical assistance” in the investigation into the disappearance of James Yoblonski, 13, for about the last two weeks, according to Sauk County Sheriff’s Det. Sgt. Drew Bulin, including polygraph tests of family members and potential witnesses.
The agency’s involvement is currently “as needed,” Bulin said, adding that could change if new developments require more assistance. Efforts to reach an FBI spokesperson Thursday afternoon were unsuccessful.
J. Yoblonski
William Yoblonski, James’s father, has offered a $10,000 reward for information that leads to finding his son, and took a polygraph examination with the FBI on Thursday morning.
“What I have been saying since day one is that I had nothing to do with his disappearance,” William Yoblonski said. “I’m just doing whatever I can to keep his name out there.”
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The elder Yoblonski said FBI agents asked him if he had harmed James or done anything that would motivate him to run away. He said he did not, and does not know why James went missing.
“We always go camping every Father’s Day weekend,” William Yoblonski said. “That’s a tradition for us. We had that scheduled the following weekend” and were planning similar trips on weekends throughout July.
James has been missing since June 12. Sheriff’s deputies using police dogs discovered a makeshift campsite they believe James used and searched an area near Baraboo and Devil’s Lake State Park on both sides of Highway 12 shortly after he disappeared.
The boy had taken a family’s vehicle, and a ping of a family cellphone led the Sheriff’s Office to search the area. A search warrant filed in Sauk County Circuit Court indicates the cellphone belonged to William Yoblonski.
A deputy found the family’s Chrysler van abandoned on the side of Highway 12, north of Groth Road in the town of Sumpter, about 4:45 a.m. on June 12 — about three hours before Yoblonski reported his son missing, according to court records.
Investigators with the Sheriff’s Office have also searched several of James’ electronic devices, which showed that earlier this year searches were conducted “regarding means of traveling out of state,” Sheriff Chip Meister said in a statement Thursday.
One of the devices is owned by the Yoblonski family and the other was issued to James by the Baraboo School District, Meister said. Several of the web searches were of locations in Wisconsin, but Meister said physical searches of those areas produced no evidence James had been there.
“I just want my son back,” William Yoblonski said Thursday.
The Sheriff’s Office asked that anyone with information on James’ whereabouts contact them at 608-355-4495 or Sauk County Crime Stoppers at 888-847-7285.
Reporter John Gittings can be reached via phone at (920) 210-4695.