UPDATE: Alberta RCMP, on Sept. 25, corrected Darius' age to six years old.
The search for a missing six-year-old boy continues in a remote area of Alberta, police and search and rescue said Wednesday (Sept. 24).
Darius Macdougall was last seen walking with his family four kilometres south of Crowsnest Pass, about a kilometre from the Island Lake Campground on Sept. 21.
The search area, which is along the B.C.-Alberta border, is in a remote area, police said.
Search and Rescue Alberta provincial training manager Adam Kennedy said Wednesday (Sept. 24) that the search radius is three kilometres, but is gradually being pushed out to 6.6 kilometres overnight.
"We are still very much operating at the assumption that Darius is alive," Kennedy said when was asked at what point teams consider scaling back the search.
Kennedy said that Tuesday night, search teams continued ground searches, supported by one RCMP helicopter, two search and rescue dogs from the Canadian Search Dog Association. There are also 68 searchers from a combination of Alberta and B.C. and the teams have consulted with two wilderness survivability physicians.
He said the terrain is making for challenging search efforts.
"It definitely slows people down from a safety aspect."
Kennedy added that temperatures on Monday night reached a low of about 4 C, but only dropped to about 11 C on Tuesday. He said that temperature is expected to hold for the next few days.
Alberta Cpl. Gina Slaney said Darius was with six family members when he went missing on Sunday, but she added it's her understanding that all family members are young.
Darius is autistic and may not respond to others. Slaney said Darius is verbal, "but there are concerns that he might not interact well with people calling out his name."
Asked why an Amber Alert had not been issued, Slaney said the alert doesn't qualify in this situation. She added there is no reason to believe that there has been foul play or that there was an abduction.
"So if that changes – that could change – and maybe there will be one, but at this point there is nothing to indicate that."
Slaney said an area of concern had been identified after someone located what was believed to be blood during the search, but it was determine not to be blood, human or animal.
Slaney said police and search and rescue continue to work with Darius' family. The family has also asked for privacy.
Police added that they're planning for daily news conferences at 2:30 p.m. Mountain Time, unless there are pressing updates.
