The long search for Dylan Redwine, a 13-year-old Colorado boy who disappeared in November 2012, ended Thursday when authorities said they found remains in a wooded area near his father's home in Colorado, that were positively identified as Dylan's.

Authorities found the boy's remains between 8-10 miles from his father's home north of Vallecito Lake, CO., according to The Denver Post. Authorities believe he was ravaged by wildlife, the paper notes.

"The parents are obviously devastated. It's not the kind of news we were hoping to give them. We were hoping to find him alive,' Durango police Lt. Ray Shupe said, according to a report by the Daily Mail. "Our hearts are broken that this is the end result."

The Denver Post spoke to the boy's father after the findings:

"I cannot wrap my head around it. You can never be prepared for something like this," Mark Redwine told The Denver Post.

Redwine said he was trying to contact he boy's mother Elaine Redwine.have been found, authorities said on Thursday.

Investigators are treating the disappearance as a criminal matter, according to the report.

The case garnered national attention after the boy's divorced parents blamed each other for his disappearance and even appearing on the Dr. Phil Show.

The search for the boy had been postponed during the winter and resumed in the spring, according to the Daily Mail.

Dylan lived in the Colorado Springs area with his mother and her boyfriend. He disappeared from her father's home in Vallecito where he had gone during Thanksgiving for a visit ordered by the court.

His father has told authorities that he left Dylan at home alone while he was out running errands and when he came back, the boy was not there, the Denver Post reports.