TERRE HAUTE — More than five years of uncertainty, worry and frustration have ended for the family and friends of Scott Javins.
Authorities positively identified Javins’ remains Saturday afternoon.
Javins’ remains were discovered inside his silver 2002 Honda Civic Si hatchback, which was pulled from the Wabash River just south of Fairbanks Park on Friday afternoon.
“We’re not relieved, but we’re a little bit more at ease,” said Scott’s father, Merv Javins, speaking Saturday night.
Several hours earlier, Vigo County Prosecutor Terry Modesitt had informed Merv Javins in a face-to-face meeting of the positive identification of his son’s remains. This is “not the answer we were hoping for,” Merv Javins said. “We were hoping that [Scott] would walk through the door. But [this] was the answer I think that we probably expected,” he said.
Before learning Scott’s fate, Merv Javins and his wife, Doreena, spoke with reporters at a news conference they called midafternoon Saturday at the Ribbon of Hope monument outside City Hall. The Javins family dedicated the Ribbon of Hope monument to Scott, other missing people and victims of crimes in December 2003.
At the media conference, Merv Javins told reporters that not knowing the fate of Scott was harder than knowing the worst. “The not knowing … is like a cancer. It just eats at you constantly, day-in, day-out,” he said.
Scott Javins, who was a 20-year-old Indiana State University student when he disappeared, was last reported seen around 2:30 a.m. on May 24, 2002, in the area of North 22nd Street and First Avenue. He had been to a party and had just told his mother during a cell phone call that he was on his way home.
That was the last time Doreena or Merv Javins would ever hear from Scott.
Over the years police received numerous tips, but none led to finding Scott until the tip that brought about the discovery of his car Friday. Some tips in the case were completely false, Merv Javins said at the Saturday afternoon news conference.
People who make false tips “need to get a life,” Merv Javins said. “They don’t know what they do to a family of a missing person,” he said.
Merv Javins also told reporters he believes there are individuals in Terre Haute who know what happened to Scott.
“I think there is definitely somebody that knows something,” Merv Javins said.
Also at the news conference, Merv and Doreena Javins said the discovery of Scott’s car was “just a beginning” in efforts to find out what happened to their son the night he went missing.
By Saturday night, after Scott’s remains had been identified, Merv Javins still believed the case of his son’s disappearance is far from over.
“There are still a lot of answers yet to be resolved,” Merv Javins said. “Hopefully those answers will start rolling in pretty quick,” he said.
Merv Javins is co-chairman of IN HOPE Indiana Missing, an organization dedicated to helping find missing people and to support their loved ones. The Javinses also have maintained a Web site — www.scottjavinsismissing.org — dedicated to helping find their son. The family also hosts a vigil for missing people, crime victims and military veterans each December at the Ribbon of Hope monument.
Merv Javins said it is too soon to make plans for any sort of memorial service for Scott. But giving Scott a place to be remembered and saying thank you to the community and friends who have supported the family over these past 51⁄2 years is clearly important to the Javinses.
“We can finally have a resting place for Scott for friends, family and everybody to come and pay their respects,” Merv Javins said. “We’re very grateful for all of the support that we’ve got from everybody,” he said.
Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.
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