STAR, Idaho — On Wednesday, June 5, a Nampa man and his friends jumped into the Boise River. His friends came back up from under the water - but the 19-year-old never did. Now his friends and family are continuing to search for him after going missing.
Christina Enriquez is the aunt of Ezekiel Vargas and her and her family start searching every morning since he went missing and don't plan on ending the search.
"Until he's found, we have no desire to stop until we get him," she said. "We've been tussling and rustling through bushes, we're cut up and we don't stop and then we get frustrated when we get a block or hit an area we can't get to."
Local law enforcement has used drones and dive teams in an attempt to find Vargas, but now Enriquez is getting outside help from two helicopter pilots.
Jody Lynn helped get the Star community involved in the search after she put together a memorial for the family along the Boise River.
"We have two people who have donated their time and fuel to put a helicopter in the air up and down the river," she said.
The help from the pilots meant so much to the family and blew them away that someone would help them like that.
"There are no words to explain how grateful that was because they can see things we can't," Enriquez said. "For them to come out and say no we’re going to do this for you and we got you and we probably would never come across in our lives and to say we’re going to do this and not just one day but two days."
In addition to the helicopter, people are helping the family by searching along the river banks.
"I know there are a lot of good people out there, and a lot of people want to help," Lynn said.
Once word spread of Enriquez and her family's search for Vargas on social media, the Star community began doing everything they could to help.
"I went home and tried to figure out what I could do to help, so I reached out to the community and a lot of people brought chairs and the Star Merc donated ice water and cups and when I came here someone else was bringing pizza," Lynn said. "That day, the entire community came out to show their support for this family."
The outpour of community support for the search for Vargas was overwhelming for Enriquez. She says she never gets out to Star and doesn't know anyone out there, so seeing people help her and add to the memorial was a wonderful feeling.
The memorial started by Lynn includes a white wreath, candles and a card people can write heartfelt messages to Enriquez and her family.
“When tragedies happen you have somewhere to go, but we don’t because he’s not found and we don’t know where he’s at," Enriquez said. "To have somewhere to come and to look and be like you know a place for us to have some relief, it's nice."