By Alyssa Conti

BOY FOUND SAFE

Mission boy found safe after joint search including helicopter, police dogs

Mar 21, 2025 | 10:15 AM

MISSION — A 5-year-old boy has been found safe after he wandered away from a children’s day camp in the Stave Falls area of Mission on Tuesday (Mar.18).

The children had been playing hide-and-seek in a forested area when the boy walked away from the rest of the group. His parents and staff searched the area for about an hour and notified Mission RCMP shortly after noon when they couldn’t find him.

Police immediately requested a large contingency of resources– including Mission Search and Rescue, the Integrated Police Dog Service, an RCMP helicopter, and the Integrated Emergency Response Team.

A coordinated search was carried out northwest of Hayward Lake in a dense and challenging forest terrain. The RCMP helicopter crew then spotted the child standing under a tree near a creek, almost a kilometre from where he was last seen.

“Even little legs can travel a surprisingly far distance in a short amount of time,” says Corporal Harrison Mohr with Mission RCMP. “No one wants to have to report a child as missing, but it’s so important to do so as soon as you realize that you can’t find them – especially somewhere like this, where we had to be aware of potential hazards including the forest, a creek, and the nearby lake.”

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Searchers moved to collect the boy and helped him reunite with his parents. He was found “in good spirits” and uninjured.

“The sooner we can start the search, the more we can narrow down the search area and focus our efforts. Every minute counts.”