An intimate conversation with the mother of Archie Klatos, the Chagrin Falls teen reported missing this week.
Illustration by Police Sketch Artist Daniel Winfield
Peggy Klatos couldn't have predicted this insignificant spring day would have been different than any other. She couldn't have predicted her son would be kidnapped either.
She could only have hoped that her waiting several hours to report her son missing didn't possibly cost him his life, or a chance to find him. Her regret about this inaction, along with several other details about her son emerged in this inside interview with the mother of the high school teen currently holding the attention of Cuyahoga County.
In the state of all this, I think we've collectively forgotten to ask: how are you?
KLATOS: I've been better, admittedly... but under the circumstances, I suppose I'm doing as well as one could expect.
Do you feel you did all you could to help your son?
KLATOS: I really wish I could believe that. He always did so much for me; even on my worst days he was so patient with me. It's my fault he's disappeared.
I'm sure that isn't true.
KLATOS: I waited until 9:16. It was probably already too late by then.
At this point, we take a moment to stop and comfort Mrs. Klatos. The interview is briefly paused, in order to offer her some tissues and allow her a moment to collect herself. We proceed toward the next set of questions with greater care, more gradually inquiring about her son with this newfound anxiety being observed.
When did you first begin to worry?
KLATOS: As soon as it was 5:00. He never came home later than 4:00. He didn't like to go out, he didn't like to hang out with friends during the week, he liked to be home so that he could work on something in his own privacy.
Was there any particular reason you didn't report it then?
KLATOS: At that point, my reasoning was that maybe today he was hanging out with friends and that he'd forgot to call me. He usually always called if for some reason he was coming home late from school, and I figured "today was the day he forgot."
When did you realize something was out of the ordinary?
KLATOS: As soon as it was 6:00. I knew there was no reason he'd ever be gone that long without telling me first, unless he was unable to. But for some reason this gut instinct washed over me not to call, as if I'd embarrass him or make a fool of him if I was this paranoid mother who called the police over her son being home late from school.
Where do you think that reaction came from?
KLATOS: I think it was in some way a coping mechanism. I didn't want him to be missing. So as the minutes passed I convinced myself more and more there was some reasonable explanation, and as the hours passed those explanations became more and more ridiculous... until I finally had to call.
“I knew there was no reason he'd ever be gone that long without telling me first, unless he was unable to.”
It was at this point I decided not to ask her a more upsetting questioning, regarding what she might have done differently if she had the chance to relive that night, and instead move onto the subject of her son's character from her perspective. It seemed like it could be perhaps a more comforting discussion.
What did he like to do with his time?
KLATOS: He was a very unique individual. And sometimes that got him in trouble; never caused by malicious intent, but it did. He was awfully fond of science, physics and chemistry were his biggest hobbies. He would do these elaborate experiments in his room with whatever he could take apart and put back together again. He did some things that would amaze me.
Do you have a memory of one of these incidents that you hold fondly?
KLATOS: You know, since he's gone missing there's one I keep going back to. He took his dad's old phono record player, which he gave to him before he died, and had wired a car battery into it. For the life of me, I can't figure out what he was trying to do, but he caused the power to go out in our house and when it was all over I just laughed hysterically.
Was he always trying things and experimenting?
KLATOS: He was. You know, he really was. But sometimes, more so on the weekends, he'd go out with his friends. His closest friend was a girl named Samantha Hatchins. She always treated him as an equal, and it was never like she was just... tolerating him. She wasn't respectfully paying attention when he spoke, she was genuinely interested and invested in his interests and wellbeing.
She sounds like a nice girl.
KLATOS: She is, yeah. She really is. When all this happened, she was the first person to call me, and she was so sweet. I remember, after the first reports came out I called her and thanked her for encouraging the press and helping to create the Klatos Investigation Website. She's done so much more than anybody could ever ask for.
I almost hesitated to ask her my final question, because I wondered if it could upset her. But it seemed somehow necessary; a valuable insight for the world to truly understand the impact Klatos had on the lives of the people he had encountered, and what kind of person he was.
If your son were reading this, what would you want to say to him?
KLATOS: Archie... I'm sorry I didn't report it earlier. I'm sorry that I didn't act as quickly as I could to save you. I'm sorry you're stuck wherever you are, because it probably isn't pleasant. But I hope you know that there are people looking for you. I hope you know everything that's possible to save you is being done. As long as there are people who love you, like me and Samantha and everyone else who knows you, we will not rest until you're found.
But will deputized citizens rest?
In lieu of a police uniform or a badge, Archie Klatos' hero wears a sweater and a flannel shawl. In absence of those sworn to protect him, his family and loved ones have taken up the oath to find him and assure he returns safe.
The saddest part of this interview was the question of why it had to go this far. Why did a 16 year old High School Sophomore and a 43 year old woman have to do what Cuyahoga County police officers should have done? Why is it that the most that has been done to find this teen is coming from people who have neither the training or access to the resources to assure his safe return?
But then again, just as they couldn't have anticipated his disappearance, they couldn't have anticipated officers of the law would show so little interest in finding him.
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