Ahren admittedly had a rough time in the years leading up to his disappearance—his fiancée, the mother of his first child, was killed in a car accident, and he had spent $60,000 fighting her parents for custody of their child—however, he was coping with those issues and making plans for the future. Ahren was an entrepreneur at heart and had been successful in a variety of businesses In the year prior to his disappearance, he had operated a sport bike shop that he and a partner had started on a shoestring budget and before long had developed into a thriving business with $125,000 in inventory. Ahren and his partner's business relationship eventually soured, and they closed up shop, but Ahren saw it as another chapter in his life, and at the time of his disappearance, he was already planning his next move.
According to Vicki, the officer who was initially working on her case has since retired and the new officer assigned to the case, Detective Brian Lee, has been working hard on the case and keeps in frequent contact with her.
Det. Lee spoke with Investigation Discovery about the case yesterday. However, he could not comment on the status of the investigation.
"It is an open investigation that we're working, and I can't discuss the details with you," Lee said.
Vicki remains determined to discover what happened to her son. She has spent over $20,000 of her own money on a private investigator and various other resources and also maintains a Web site devoted to her son's case, located at www.helpfindahren.com. She also maintains a MySpace page for her son at www.myspace.com/AhrenBarnard.
"My son is a great person, and he has a good heart," Vicki said. "I try to keep hope alive, but from the very beginning my gut has told me he has been harmed."
Ahren Benjamin Barnard is described as a white male, 6' tall, 220 lbs., with brown hair and brown eyes. He has pierced ears, a mole by his right eye, and a mole above his mustache on the right side of his face. Anyone with information is asked to call the Boise Police Department at 208-373-5401 or Detective Brian Lee at 208-373-5403.
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