Balloons and broken hearts for Reggie
<p>Bella Nault, age 6, Reggie Nault's little sister, hugs his headstone at the balloon release ceremony, Thursday, in Coeur d'Alene.</p>
<p>Pastor David Warnick, of New Life Church, and Brandi Jones, Mother of Reggie Nault , get ready to release balloons for the 1 year anniversary memorial, Thursday, in Coeur d'Alene.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE — It’s been one year since 16-year-old Reggie Nault drowned in Lake Coeur d'Alene, but unanswered questions have postponed any sense of closure for his family.
"At this point we are, as a family, very, very disappointed," Reggie's mom, Brandi Jones, said Thursday when asked about the investigation into her son's death. "I'm just going to leave it at that. The family is very, very disappointed. Period. That's just the heart of it."
According to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, Reggie was with two friends last July 21 when he fell or jumped from a moving boat. He wasn’t wearing a life jacket.
After a search that included friends and strangers alike, Reggie’s body was finally recovered from Lake Coeur d’Alene Aug. 3. A Kootenai County coroner’s report released Oct. 23 said alcohol intoxication was related to Reggie’s accidental death, caused by asphyxia due to freshwater drowning.
But questions of responsibility lingered. Because of his relationships with people named in the investigation, Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh forwarded the case to Boundary County on Jan. 15. McHugh said Thursday he hasn’t heard whether or not charges will be filed against anyone in the case, and Boundary County Prosecutor Jack Douglas and Chief Deputy Prosecutor Tevis Hull were out of the office and not available to discuss the case Thursday afternoon.
Jones said once a statement from the prosecutor is released, she and the family will be open to talking with The Press in more detail because the circumstances surrounding Reggie's death concerns the community and the importance of child safety.
"It's been excruciating," she said. "It's really hard to miss him as much as we do."
Jones and more than 60 people gathered at Reggie's gravesite Thursday morning to release balloons and remember the fun-loving teen, who played on the Coeur d'Alene High School varsity baseball team. Roses and tokens of love were placed near his headstone, which is in the shape of a large baseball.
The friend, son and grandson was memorialized poignantly and, at times, hilariously.
"Reggie once told me to watch the movie 'Napoleon Dynamite,'" said his grandfather, Al Nault, of Boise. "He said, 'You got to see this Grandpa,' so I watched it. I thought it was the worst movie I've ever seen in my life.
“Some time later, Reggie was in Boise, and he says, 'Let's rent the movie 'Napoleon Dynamite,' and I said, 'Oh my God.' So I was sitting there with Reggie in the second showing of 'Napoleon Dynamite,' and he did something to me — his laughing, his commentary, telling me what's coming up. It changed my whole outlook on that movie. I thought it was the funniest movie.
"He changed my life for the moment. That's how he was in so many other instances with me, helping change my life."