The search for a missing six-year-old boy in southern Alberta has been called off, RCMP said Wednesday.
Darius Macdougall, who has autism, was reported missing Sept. 21 after he didn’t return from a walk with six young relatives in the Crowsnest Pass area, where the family from Lethbridge, Alta., had been camping.
Searchers, helicopters, dogs, drones and underwater teams have scoured 22 square kilometres of the woods since the boy disappeared, but nothing found in the search has been linked to him, RCMP said. Searchers have described the area as mountainous, with lots of elevation changes, streams and deadfall.
“The scene will be demobilized,” said RCMP Cpl. Gina Slaney. “That being said the investigation will carry on until Darius is found.”
Slaney said the area that has been the focus of the multi-agency search for the past 11 days will be reopened to the public.
“At this point, if Darius is still in the search site, it is our belief that he is no longer alive,” she said.
There is no evidence that the boy is outside of the search area, and there has been nothing to indicate foul play in his disappearance, she said.
Slaney said the investigation will continue as officers check tips and other leads.
“We never stop investigating,” she said.
“Please trust that we are still here for the family of Darius.”