Austin Sparks missing ... !?!?!?!?

TrueBalance · Post by **TrueBalance** » 17 Mar 2004 22:19

For the record this is completely serious.

I just got a message from Bryan Fournier that Austin Sparks is missing. I have almost no info on this but here is the little that I know: It was all over the news in Redding, north Cali. Apparently he ran away from home, they found footprints in the snow or something. I know that's not much to go on.

My purpose in posting this is to let all footbaggers know that he needs our help. If there is anyone in the area, please look for him. Or even if you aren't in the area, please keep your eyes and ears open.

I don't know much but I heard that he had tough family life so he may have contacted other footbag players or something. This is reaching.

I learned inside stalls with Austin at my first tournament. I was his net partner at my first western regionals. I really hope he is okay. Sorry if this post upsets anyone.

Good luck Austin.

TrueBalance · Post by **TrueBalance** » 17 Mar 2004 22:23

http://www.redding.com/top_stories/loca ... o033.shtml

sen · Post by **sen** » 17 Mar 2004 22:31

I don't know him, but I hope he is alright.

TrueBalance · Post by **TrueBalance** » 17 Mar 2004 22:33

He is a great young footbagger.

Dawn Of Freestyle · Post by **Dawn Of Freestyle** » 18 Mar 2004 00:22

Daryl just sent me a link to the news article from Jan. 8th, a few days after he was missing. I found a few more follow up stories... it's really, really sad. He was taking medication for depression. His footprints led down to Montgomery Creek. On Jan. 13th they found Austin's shoe at the dam.

On Jan. 22 they still had not found him, although divers had made several attempts. I emailed the reporter to see if there is any more information, but it sounds pretty discouraging.

One of the news stories I read said his mom died of cancer in 1997, I guess he would have been about 9 then. I guess things were tough for Austin and his dad.

I met Austin at World's in Vancouver, summer of 2000. He was by far the youngest shredder and there was a lot of hype.

There is a great opening scene in the footbag video Stylin' In The City, where Austin gets props from many BAP players after a great run outside the host hotel. I've also seen footage of him shreddin' with Big Add Chad and others at Steve Goldberg's house (not sure which video).

I have great footage of him doing a demo on finals day and also in a shred circle at the net site.

He did seem pretty shy when I talked to him, although he did have his own footbag club when he was 12, Awesome Austin's footbag club. His dad, Barry, was pretty excited by his son's freestyle talent.

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 18 Mar 2004 05:46

I heard Sunil and Dave talking about this when we were walking to the site at CSS... I hadn't heard anything more about it, though. I'd just thought they'd found him...

Guess not though...

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 18 Mar 2004 22:06

If anybody learns anything else, please let everybody know. I don`t pray, but in this case it seems like it can`t hurt. I really really hope he`s OK.

NotHisRealName · Post by **NotHisRealName** » 19 Mar 2004 03:56

TrueBalance wrote:http://www.redding.com/top_stories/loca ... o033.shtml

I had to point out that there's actually no picture of Austin on that link.
I think that's a bit off.

But, yeah. Any news, keep us posted.

TrueBalance · Post by **TrueBalance** » 19 Mar 2004 07:27

http://www.redding.com/news/stories/20040108lo079.shtml

There is a different link which is where I got the picture from.

Muffinman · Post by **Muffinman** » 29 Apr 2004 15:54

any news??

Chris Hanratty · Post by **Chris Hanratty** » 29 Apr 2004 16:12

I really hope Austin is okay, it's a shame that this happened.

But I'm curious as to why this is only being posted/realized now?

SeRiAl ThIlLa~ · Post by **SeRiAl ThIlLa~** » 29 Apr 2004 17:44

ya same question poped into my mind as well. Like if there was snow that means it was ealier then this

bigdirtyfoot · Post by **bigdirtyfoot** » 29 Apr 2004 17:45

It was first posted about a month ago... someone bumped it to ask the status. I hope Austin's alright. I would hate to lose someone in this tightknit community.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 29 Apr 2004 17:59

In the bottom left hand corner there is the date and time of each post.

I think having no news for this long is probably a bad thing. I really feel for his parents/family.

Chris Hanratty · Post by **Chris Hanratty** » 30 Apr 2004 10:01

I know that each post is dated, but it was only started on March 18th, when the incident happened in January. Still kind of a long delay... I hope he's okay.

Splint · Post by **Splint** » 01 May 2004 05:22

If you go to the link Sam posted you can search the Archives for updated news. So far there is none. I'm sure the search has "officially" stopped by now.
This is very sad.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 01 Jun 2004 22:02

http://www.redding.com/redd/nw_local/ar ... 85,00.html

edit: I'm not really sure what to say, but I thought people would appreciate the link.

Muffinman · Post by **Muffinman** » 01 Jun 2004 22:31

Someone should hold a memorial tournament! That would be really cool. Did anyone here ever meet him?

FlexThis · Post by **FlexThis** » 02 Jun 2004 10:55

He will be deeply missed!

Chris Hanratty · Post by **Chris Hanratty** » 02 Jun 2004 12:55

Definately a sad occurance

I'd be honored to attend a tournament in his name.

Can anyone show me the videos of him?