CALHOUN COUNTY, Ill. – Sarah DeJaynes and her family have been searching for her son since he went missing on Mother’s Day. 

Bryar DeJaynes, 19, was last seen by his family in Pearl buying fuel for his boat at the Pearl Fuel Mart Sunday. His mother hopes anyone with information will contact her or the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office at (618) 576-2417.

 “He was in a good mood,” she said. “He was wanting to go out fishing.”

Family members say Bryar’s boat was found in an area known as the Glades. His dogs, Poppy and Killer, are also missing. DeJaynes believes any sign of the dogs will lead to Bryar.   

“I don’t think they would have just left him,” she said.

Soon after her son was missing, there was a possible sighting of her son’s boat by the operators of the Kampsville Ferry. However, DeJaynes said the report saw a boat that was approximately 16 feet, and her son’s boat was around 12 feet. 

Several of DeJayne’s family members are commercial fishermen. 

“They’ve been everywhere; they thought he might have set bank poles or something and nobody’s found anything,” she said.

Bryar’s family hopes anyone familiar with the Illinois River in Calhoun County will help look for him. He set out Sunday to fish in some flooded fields, but family members don’t believe he would have gone out on the Illinois River alone.

“Maybe he was lost and trying to get off the river because he didn’t know where he was,” DeJaynes said . 

Search efforts have included resources from local, county, and state agencies.