{"id":183480,"date":"2025-10-01T21:33:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T21:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/183480\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T21:33:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T21:33:10","slug":"this-was-a-tragedy-rcmp-say-ground-search-for-6-year-old-alberta-boy-has-been-called-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/183480\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018This was a tragedy\u2019: RCMP say ground search for 6-year-old Alberta boy has been called off"},"content":{"rendered":"

The ground search for a six-year-old Lethbridge boy who went missing more than a week ago while on a camping trip in southwestern Alberta with his family is being called off.<\/p>\n

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While RCMP insist the investigation will continue, as of 1 p.m. MT on Wednesday, those involved in the ground search for Darius Macdougall<\/a> were being pulled out of the area just south of Crowsnest Pass. The area has reopened to the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this point, if Darius is still in the search site, it is our belief that he is no longer alive,\u201d said RCMP Cpl. Gina Slaney.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not the outcome we wanted,\u201d said Alberta RCMP Supt. Rick Jane, during a virtual update with media. \u201cEveryone did everything in their power to find Darius and we will continue to pursue avenues when they arise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are committed to bringing answers to Darius and his family,\u201d added Jane.<\/p>\n

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The boy\u2019s family reported him missing on Sept. 21 after he went for a walk with other young family members near Island Lake Campground, about 250 kilometres south of Calgary.<\/p>\n

When the group returned from the walk, his family told investigators that Darius was not with them.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tMore than 400 search and rescue members from 50 teams across Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan were involved in the search for Darius Macdougall. The search was called off on Wednesday.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy RCMP\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Adam Kennedy of Alberta Search and Rescue said over the past 11 days, more than 400 search and rescue volunteers from 50 teams across Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan, along with 60 RCMP tactical support members, have spent more than 11,000 hours searching for the boy.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"For<\/p>\n

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\u201cA total area of nearly 22 square kilometres was thoroughly covered during the search for Darius, much of it multiple times,\u201d said Kennedy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe search extended up to 12 kilometres from where Darius was last seen. The distance travelled by ground search assets inside that 22 square kilometres on field tasks was more than 5,300 kilometres,\u201d added Kennedy.<\/p>\n

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The area is heavily forested, with steep alpine areas and multiple waterways.<\/p>\n

Searchers used all-terrain vehicles, dogs, drones, fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters fitted with infrared and night vision cameras, but no sign of the missing child was found.<\/p>\n

The search was made more challenging because the little boy is autistic, and while RCMP said he is verbal, he may be unwilling or unable to respond when he sees searchers or hears them call out his name.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Click<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1:54
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlberta RCMP say missing 6-year-old boy has less than 5% chance of survival\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The RCMP say there is no indication of foul play in the case. On Tuesday, his mother, Maegan Bernicky, made a public plea for any information that may help solve her son\u2019s disappearance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pleading with my entire being,\u201d she told Bridge City News in an interview. \u201cIf anyone knows or has seen anything, tell the police.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cMoving forward, all information and tips will be carefully evaluated and thoroughly investigated,\u201d said Slaney. \u201cThat means taking every single possibility into account. Just because those questions are being asked doesn\u2019t mean we believe that that happened, but we\u2019re covering it off.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tSupt. Rick Jane of the Alberta RCMP said six-year-old Darius Macdougall\u2019s disappearance is \u2018a tragedy,\u2019 involving the most intensive search that he has ever seen.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy: RCMP\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

And while the ground search may be over, the RCMP are also asking anyone who is visiting the area to keep their eyes open.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, sometimes we need some help from luck or fate or higher power, depending what you believe, and it may be a hunter, it may a person recreating,\u201d said Jane.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot say until we find Darius where he is, and so we can\u2019t rule out the areas that have been searched. We can only say that this has been more intensive a search than I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The ground search for a six-year-old Lethbridge boy who went missing more than a week ago while on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[84151,2169,85470,43,28462,85471,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-183480","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-alberta-search-and-rescue","9":"tag-crime","10":"tag-darius-macdougall","11":"tag-headlines","12":"tag-investigations","13":"tag-missing-alberta-boy","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-top-news","16":"tag-top-stories","17":"tag-topnews","18":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}