Missing OKC Valedictorian, "They've Found Nothing So Far" Posted: Wednesday, June 19, 2013 8:54 PM EDT Updated: Wednesday, July 10, 2013 9:44 PM EDT 
 
 An Oklahoma City Valedictorian has been missing in Ecuador since Sunday. 18-year-old August Reiger was on vacation with his parents and younger brother in Banos, Ecuador when he went missing while on a hike. "Unbelievable, he was (only) a few minutes ahead of us on the trail," Chris Reiger, the teens father said from his hotel room in Ecuador. 
 
 
 
 According to Reiger, the local police, US embassy and more than 150 volunteers have been searching for the teen on foot and by helicopter, "They've found nothing so far," Reiger said. Authorities believe August either fell, or was kidnapped, "Nobody is asking for a ransom or something like that," Reiger added, "Everybody is both shocked and baffled, because they say nothing like this has happened in this town." 
 
 August graduated from Classen School of Advanced studies in Oklahoma City this past May. "He has got a full ride scholarship to OU, he's got a full life waiting for him in OKC," Friend and classmate Brodie Lockett added, "He was top of his class in everything." 
 
 As the search continues in Ecuador Chris Reiger said they will now be putting up missing persons posters in the surrounding areas. "He didn't have anything with him, no money, no water," Reiger said. He plans to stay in Ecuador until his son is found. ||||| An 18-year-old who graduated as a valedictorian from Classen School of Advanced Studies last month went missing Sunday while on vacation with his family in Ecuador, his father said. 
 
 August Reiger was hiking with his younger brother and his parents, Chris and Randa Reiger, in the town of Banos when he disappeared Sunday afternoon, Chris Reiger said. 
 
 The family was staying at a hotel in the town, which Chris Reiger described as an Ecuadorean version of Aspen, Colo. The family decided to go hiking Sunday. 
 
 “On the mountain there are a couple of trails that take a few hours to make a loop,” Chris Reiger said. “We started on one of them.” 
 
 August Reiger went ahead of the rest of the family. When they reached a pavilion at the top of the mountain, they did not see him, and he was not at the hotel when they returned. 
 
 “The really strange thing about it is that whatever happened to him was in the space of five or 10 minutes,” Chris Reiger said. “We were right behind him.” 
 
 Chris Reiger said local authorities quickly responded and began searching the trails. Dozens of firefighters from across the country are involved in the search, along with the Ecuadorean military. Family members also have been in contact with the U.S. State Department. 
 
 “He couldn't have gotten lost,” Reiger said. “The whole of the trail is visible from the hotel. You can see the way down. It's a tourist area, and it's not isolated at all. If he was hurt on the trail, somebody would have seen him.” 
 
 Chris Reiger said authorities think August Reiger either fell off a steep ledge just off the trails or was kidnapped, although Banos is considered a safe part of the country. 
 
 “A kidnapping has never happened here before,” Chris Reiger said. 
 
 The family has not received any ransom calls, which would be likely in an abduction. 
 
 “He speaks Spanish,” Chris Reiger said. “He's 18. If he had wanted to go on that hike alone, I would have been fine with it.” 
 
 An American who now lives in Ecuador and works with the local authorities has been serving as a translator and keeping the family updated on the search. 
 
 “There is a massive search effort,” Chris Reiger said. 
 
 “That is the only thing I feel good about. They are doing everything they can.” 
 
 School community's reaction 
 
 An Oklahoma City Public Schools spokeswoman said August Reiger graduated last month from Classen School of Advanced Studies. He was an International Baccalaureate Valedictorian, a National Merit Scholar and an Oklahoma Academic Scholar. 
 
 Dixie Hendrix, president of the parent-teacher association at Classen School of Advanced Studies, said she knows August Reiger and his family. 
 
 “He's just a really great kid,” Hendrix said. “About 30 to 40 kids are valedictorian at Classen because so many of them have a high GPA. That means he was certainly a kid who was responsible, did everything he needed to do. He is also a funny guy.” 
 
 Hendrix said word of August Reiger's disappearance is spreading among the school community on social media. 
 
 “He's not the kind of kid that would cause anybody any trouble at all,” she said.
– Just last month, August Reiger graduated as a valedictorian from his Oklahoma advanced studies high school. On Sunday, the 18-year-old National Merit Scholar was hiking in Ecuador during a family vacation with his parents and younger brother when he disappeared. He had gone on ahead by himself, and was not at the mountaintop when his family arrived—nor at their hotel when they got back, the Oklahoman reports. "Whatever happened to him was in the space of five or 10 minutes. We were right behind him," his father says. "He couldn't have gotten lost. The whole of the trail is visible from the hotel. You can see the way down. It's a tourist area, and it's not isolated at all. If he was hurt on the trail, somebody would have seen him." Police, firefighters, volunteers, and even the military have been searching for the teen; his father says authorities believe he either fell off a ledge or was kidnapped. But Banos, where the family was vacationing, is considered safe and has never seen a kidnapping, his father says, and the family has not received a ransom call. The family has hired an American who lives in Ecuador as a translator (August, his dad notes, speaks Spanish) and his father tells KOKH-TV he'll remain in the country until the teen is found. Says one of August's friends, "He has got a full ride scholarship to OU; he's got a full life waiting for him in OKC."