Chance Lauer was curious about the world, loved to read and go on adventures. Those are things most parents would say about their kid, but that’s who Lauer was, his father said.
Lauer, 19, was the only child of Jody and Stephanie Lauer. He grew up in Kennebunk and was an agreeable child, who got along with everyone and loved music — but nothing more recent than 1980, Jody Lauer told the Bangor Daily News.
“He was our dream,” Jody Lauer said.
Lauer was last seen Jan. 19. His body was recovered from a pond near his Orchard Trail apartment on March 17 in Orono. He had completed three semesters at the University of Maine.
It appears he went for a walk and fell through the ice on the pond, his father, Jody Lauer said. Police have said there is nothing suspicious about his death.
“It haunts me to think of my son’s — the fear he had,” Jody Lauer said. “It tortures me. This is a child that you nurture, that you watch grow and you love and you keep him safe. To know that he was scared in his final moments is very, very difficult.”
The family traveled extensively, starting when Lauer was only 6 months old. He made it to 29 states and 27 countries on four continents.
Lauer started learning to fly a plane in middle school and planned to complete his license after college. Between his time as both a passenger on commercial flights and a co-pilot of small planes, Lauer flew about 270,000 miles across 186 flights, Jody Lauer said.
During the family’s travels Lauer also rode more than 127 rollercoasters, because Jody Lauer loves them.
Spending time outside was one of Lauer’s favorite activities. Growing up Lauer went to Blueberry Cove, a summer camp through the University of Maine cooperative extension. He later worked as a counselor at the camp.
At an airport in Denmark the family was waiting to board a flight back to Boston when a little boy walked up to Lauer. The kid was excited because Lauer had been his counselor at Blueberry Cove earlier that summer, Jody Lauer said.
“Chance loved nature,” Jody Lauer said. “He was very adventurous. He was very curious about the world, a deep thinker.”
In the weeks since Lauer went missing the family has received an outpouring of support, Jody Lauer said. They heard from numerous people, including Lauer’s middle school teachers, as the search started.
After Lauer was found, the family has received countless messages about how great Lauer was and tons of stories about how he made a difference, his dad said.
“He made such a positive impression on everyone he was around,” Jody Lauer said.
The family is starting a scholarship in Lauer’s name to help students pay for the cost of international student trips, Jody Lauer said. The hope is those students will be bitten by the same travel bug Lauer had.
“That would be a very fitting tribute to Chance and that’ll give us some drive and keep his memory very much alive,” Jody Lauer said.