Friends describe relationship between Xavior Harrelson and his mother as search for missing boy continues

MONTEZUMA, Iowa (KCRG) - Neighbors said there were weekly “screaming matches” between Xavior Harrelson and his mother, Sarah, in their home. The same home was searched with K9 units along with the entire trailer park on Tuesday.

Her son was reported missing six days ago and the FBI began assisting local and state law enforcement with the search on Tuesday. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said it’s continuing to re-evaluate its search for Xavior after searching a mile radius from Harrelson’s home in the Spruce Village Mobile Home Park in Montezuma. The Poweshiek County Sherriff’s Office on Wednesday asked for people near Montezuma to hand over surveillance video.

The search on Sunday used nearly 500 people to look through rural areas in Poweshiek County and Diamond Lake Park. The Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office said Harrelson was last seen at around 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 27. He was last known to be wearing a red t-shirt, blue pajama pants, and black high-top shoes. He has brown hair and blue eyes, and he is about 4′8″ tall and 100 pounds.

Neighbors and family members said Xavior acted as a caretaker for his mother, who is an amputee.

Samantha Rix, who first reported Xavior missing on Thursday, said the mother has difficulty putting on her prosthetic leg because of another health condition.

“Things she can’t do he helps her with,” she said “You know, and Xavior knows that and he knows that he’s not just her son. He’s her other leg.”

She said she knows the mother because Xavior is friends with her 6-year-old friend.

Rix said Xavior was very close with his mom and said their relationship was full of love. However, neighbors at the Spruce Village Mobile Home Park said Xavior would sometimes ask neighbors to stay in their homes instead.

Kevin Kaupzer, who lives next door to the Harrelson’s, said the two would argue often loud enough that they could hear the screaming.

He said it wasn’t clear what was being said, but there was a lot of screaming.

“It was never clear what they were fighting about,” he said. “But there were several other fights screaming back and forth.”

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said only Sarah and Xavior lived inside the trailer and there were no guests when he disappeared. The agency clarified on Wednesday one neighbor, not the mother, reported Xavior Harrelson missing.

The mother hasn’t talked on-camera with any media yet, but family members said off-camera they miss and love Xavior.