Police Search for Missing Boy

St. Louis County Police Department officers are searching for a missing boy who was last seen at approximately 7:30 p.m. Sunday in the 18,000 block of Franklin Road in the Pacific Palisades Conservation Area, which is an unincorporated area of St. Louis County. Pacific Palisades Conservation Area is a 695-acre tract in Jefferson and St. Louis Counties immediately east of Pacific and three miles from Interstate 44.

As reported by KSDK-TV at about 5 a.m. Monday, investigators said 12-year-old Christopher Marks is a white male, 5-foot-3 to 5-foot-4 tall, who weighs approximately 130 pounds. He was wearing blue or black shorts, with no shirt and no shoes.

Update at 5:58 a.m.: An endangered person advisory was issued for Marks at 3 a.m. Monday by the Missouri Highway Patrol.

Police said Marks said he was going to rope swing on the river, and now has not been seen or heard from since Sunday evening.

The Jefferson County portion of Pacific Palisades Conservation Area is 1.5 miles south of Pacific on Route F, then one-tenth-mile east on English Road. The boat ramp is located in St. Louis County off Route 66, which is an outer road of I-44. The area contains forest, cropland, old fields, and the Meramec River, as well as sand and gravel pits with seasonal fishing.

A Eureka police officer just confirmed with Patch the search is being handled by St. Louis County officers.

Update at 7:06 a.m. from St. Louis County Police Officer Rick Eckard:  The boy was last seen in the Meramec River at 7:30 p.m. Sunday. A search has been active since last night. Family members of the child are still at the scene.

Update at 8:26 a.m. from St. Louis County Police Officer Rick Eckard: Marks is a resident of the Affton area. No details or clues have turned up from the overnight search. Marks was seen in the middle of the Meramec River last night, and now is presumed drowned or that he reached land safely and was taken from the area afterward.

Affton-Shrewsbury Patch editor Lindsey Toler confirmed at 8:48 a.m. that Marks attends Rogers Middle School in Affton.

Anyone with any information about this endangered child is asked to call St. Louis County Police at 314-615-5360 or or .