It’s been just under two weeks since the body of 5-year-old Lucas Hernandez was found under a small bridge in Harvey County, Kansas. Lucas’ father, distraught and shocked after learning his little boy passed away, opened up on Monday morning on how his son overcame a lot of obstacles in his young life. He also explained how his life changed when he learned his girlfriend, the woman he thought he knew and could trust, led a private investigator to the remains of his son.

On December 3, 2012, little Lucas was born premature and spent the first six weeks of his life in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Jonathan Hernandez, his father, described what it was like to watch his first-born and only son struggle to breathe while getting nutrition through a feeding tube attached to his stomach for most of the first year of the boy’s life.

Lucas began eating on his own and drinking on his own as a 1-year-old, a miracle and surprise according to Jonathan. Lucas was small for his and a bit underweight, but he had already battled a large obstacle in his life when five years later, he vanished.

Jonathan also shared memories of Lucas as a boy who loved cartoons and playing with toys.

“Flying his drone I got him for Christmas. Inspector Gadget cartoons were absolutely his favorite. He’d always tell me, ‘I want to watch Gadget‘,” an emotional Hernandez told “Crime Stories”.

According to a written statement to authorities by Jonathan’s former live-in girlfriend Emily Glass, Lucas disappeared on February 17 while she took a nap inside their Wichita rental home. Glass later, however, told private investigator David Marsh that she woke up on February 17 to find Lucas dead, and she “panicked.”

In this episode of “Crime Stories,” Jonathan explains his reaction when he heard his son was missing, how he spent countless hours with authorities in hopes they could find Lucas,  and his thoughts on Glass and why he no longer defends her.

[Feature Photo: Lucas Hernandez and Jonathan Hernandez/Handout]