Colorado youth missing two weeks

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VALLECITO, Colo., Dec. 2 (UPI) -- A Colorado man whose son has been missing for two weeks says he has hired an attorney, and that he suspects his son was hitchhiking when he disappeared.

Mark Redwine told The Denver Post he hired a criminal lawyer to watch his back while he presses the search for his 13-year-old son, Dylan Redwine, who disappeared from the Pine River Valley two weeks ago.

"I just want my son back," Redwine told the Post. "I know it's crossing all our minds -- reality is starting to set in that that may not be a possibility."

Redwine says he believes Dylan may have disappeared while hitchhiking in the rural area where the crime rate is generally low. He said he doubted Dylan ran away and was generally a happy kid despite his parents' seven-year divorce battle.

Dylan had been visiting his dad in Vallecito for Thanksgiving but had planned to return to his nearby hometown to see friends.

"His priority was pretty much with his friends, so I wasn't alarmed," Redwine said, adding Dylan may have been impatient waiting for transportation home and set off on his own.

The Post said law enforcement officers were still searching forests in the area, checking scores of secluded cabins for any sign of the youth.