LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A grieving family is pushing for more answers. A father, missing for months, was found dead on the banks of the Arkansas River.
His son, Alan Buckels Jr., said the family still needs more closure.
"Why was he at the river? Why did it end up like it did? Everything was good and then gone," he said.
Buckels Jr. spent the majority of the last five months walking along the Arkansas River.
"Been lost really, I didn't know what to do," he said.
Taking boat from dam to dam, according to Buckels Jr., searching for any sign of the man who raised him.
"He left to go to Edwards to get stuff for tacos and that was the last time I saw him," he said.
That was back on Dec. 18, just one week before Christmas.
His dad, Alan Buckels Sr., was last seen on surveillance footage at the Edwards Food Giant on Cantrell Road.
Days later his van was found in Murray Park, with no sign of Buckels Sr., the car locked with his phone and groceries still inside, according to Buckels Jr.
"There's too many unanswered questions and coincidences and somebody knows something," he said.
After months of search dogs and drones, Buckels Jr. said his family finally got the call they'd been dreading.
"A fisherman a few miles outside of Pine Bluff fishing, I guess, saw it and saw him washed up on the bank," he said.
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said the 63-year-old was found just south of Lock and Dam 5 on April 30, nearly 50 miles from where he was last seen.
It wasn't until after speaking with the coroner that Buckels Jr. really got a grasp on the state his father was found in.
"I said, 'he had a steel plate in his ankle, can you get a metal detector, magnet or something?' and she said, 'He has no ankles.' That was pretty messed up," he said.
Wearing his dad's ring around his neck and flying a flag half-staff in front of the home they lived in together, Buckels Jr. is slowly taking it day by day.
"He always had a smile on his face, he'd light up a room, life of the party," he said.
While he wishes he had more time with his dad, police say the investigation is still ongoing and Buckels Jr. said he's not giving up.
"I am pretty confident that somebody knows something that they're withholding information, there's no doubt in my mind. I would say, just come forward," he said.
Police say this is still an ongoing and open investigation.
If you know any information, please call the Little Rock Police Department.