‘A pure, innocent little soul’: Mother shares memories of her child who died after going missing in Silverthorne
Serenity Maes wrote that her son was her 'pride and joy' and 'made everyone's day brighter'

Serenity Maes/Courtesy image
Summit County Rescue Group members and law enforcement officers Tuesday, July 22, found a child, who had been missing from Silverthorne’s Willow Grove Open Space, in the Blue River nearby.
Responders pulled Zeldris Milo Maes, 1, of Arvada, out of the river and performed CPR on him, but he did not regain spontaneous circulation, according to Summit County Coroner Amber Flenniken. She said Zeldris Maes was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Serenity Maes, Zeldris Maes’ mother, described her son as a “very happy baby” in a message to Summit Daily News. The stay-at-home mother said she, Zeldris Maes and his father “did everything together.”
“He would give me hugs and lots of kisses everyday,” Serenity Maes wrote. “Going to stores and places, he would always smile and wave and babble. He always got so much attention.”
The 1.5-year-old was “very spoiled” by his entire family, “so he always definitely got his way,” Serenity Maes wrote. Zeldris Maes was “overprotective” of his mother, two brothers and sister, she added.
Zeldris Maes loved music, according to his mother, and would often dance with his parents.
“He went a tad bit crazier with dad on the head jammin’,” Serenity Maes wrote.
Serenity Maes wrote that her “pride and joy” would climb on her and her husband every morning.
“He was a pure, innocent little soul who made everyone’s day brighter,” Serenity Maes wrote. “My reality is nothing more than a nightmare.”
The mother wrote that she wants other parents to know that “anything can happen in the blink of an eye.” Serenity Maes said one of her children went “running off to danger,” and when she turned away from Zeldris Maes to give chase, he did the same.
Serenity Maes wrote that “danger lurks all around us,” and it “takes a village” to raise a child. She mentioned seeing negative posts on social media about her son’s death.
“There shouldn’t be any judgement or slander or hate passed on to anyone, to any parent,” Serenity Maes wrote. “Especially if you have not been in the same situation, where you have lost or almost lost a child to a simple accident.”
When this sort of thing happens, Serenity Maes wrote, it makes parents more aware of the dangers facing them and their children, preparing them “for what may or may not happen.”
“I am devastated,” Serenity Maes wrote. “I am lost, and I’ll never be the same, but I know now that anything can happen. It happened to me, and it sucks that this is my reality that’s going to stick with me forever.”
One of Serenity Maes’ cousins set up a GoFundMe to help with medical and burial costs, according to the fundraiser’s description.
Flenniken said an official cause of death will likely be announced in four to six weeks.

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