The mother of a 6-year-old boy who vanished on a camping trip with his young brothers and cousins has spoken out.
Darius Macdougall disappeared on a walk with extended family members all thought to be children along Crowsnest Pass in southwestern Alberta, Canada.
Police have given the boy just 5% chance of survival as the hours tick by since he vanished without a trace on September 21.
Searchers have been blasting his favourite songs as they scour the dense forest, mountains, streams and beaver dams of the treacherous region.
(Picture: Royal Canadian Mounted Police)
His mother Maegan Bernicky posted on Facebook: ‘Nothing of this is making sense to me. Someone on that mountain knows something.
‘A kid doesn’t just vanish and I’m going to keep pushing [police] to get answers.’
She added that her son was autistic and could fail to respond to rescuers.
She said: ‘As these sleepless nights hit, I wonder where is he? Is he safe? How scared is he? Does he know I love him? I ask why him? And again where is he?
‘This almost does not feel real at all, like a dream. I am ready to wake up now.’
Helicopters, drones, divers and dog teams have all been looking for Darius 24 hours a day since he vanished.
‘Right now, the probability of survival is less than 5%,’ said Corporal Gina Slaney of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), after meeting with the family.
Darius’ autism could ‘prevent him from responding to others,’ according to the RCMP.
(Picture: Maegan Bernicky)
Searchers have had to adapt their techniques avoiding loud noises in the area to avoid frightening him further.
‘If Darius is still in the search site, it is our belief that he is no longer alive,’ said Slaney.
Slaney said that police have ‘zero indication’ of foul play, and there has been nothing to suggest he isn’t in the search area.
‘We’ve just exhausted all search tactics — there’s just nothing else for us to search at this time,’ she said.
Darius is described as four feet tall with short brown hair. He was last seen wearing a blue/grey hoodie and sweatpants.
Crowsnest Pass has a growing problem with human-bear conflicts, including recent attacks like one in September 2024, where a man was airlifted to a Calgary hospital after being mauled by a bear in the Allison Creek Road area.
