MASON COUNTY, WV (WOWK) – The mother of a 10-year-old boy is devastated and grieving after his death just days ago in a forested area outside Point Pleasant.

Adrienne Nibert is the mother of Wyatt Ray Eaves, and she sat down with 13 News on Tuesday. She says the family is doing their best to get through the tragedy together, even though she knows the pain of missing Wyatt will never go away.

“I just don’t have any other option but to keep going,” Nibert said. “I think I’ll feel a lot better when he’s home and he can rest. But I’ll always miss him.”

Wyatt was a student at Roosevelt Elementary School. She says her son was wiser than his years, and Wyatt was smart, respectful, and mature for kids his age.

In fact, she says her son had a dream of joining the military ever since he was a little boy.

“He always wanted to be a Marine,” Nibert said. “He would always tell me, mom, when I turn eighteen, I’m going to be a Marine. Everybody at school loved him. He was so respectful. He put everybody else first.”

Nibert says her son loved hunting with his grandfather, which is what they were going to do right before he went missing on Saturday.

“He loved the outdoors, hunting, fishing, trapping, he loved it all,” Nibert said. “If you’ve seen him, you’ve seen his grandpa. They were best friends.”

She says she and her family were searching for him all Saturday night along with hundreds of volunteers and first responders. Investigators say Wyatt appeared to have died from a gunshot wound after he became separated from his grandfather.

Wyatt is also survived by an older sister and younger brother. Nibert says his loss has been hard on them too, and that all they want is to be able to see their brother one more time.

“They’re not going to see him again,” Nibert said. “They just keep saying he just wants to see his brother again. Just one more time.”

The Mason County Sheriff’s Office is continuing to investigate Wyatt’s death.