Search for boy continues to expand

By Lethbridge Herald on September 26, 2025.

Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Lethbridge Herald 

The search for six-year-old Darius Macdougall continued Thursday as RCMP are still hopeful that he will be found.

Cpl. Gina Slaney said Thursday that the RCMP is continuing interview in an attempt to find any piece of information that may lead to where Darius is.

Darius, who is autistic, went missing Sunday after he didn’t return from a walk with family members near their campsite at Island Lake campground near the Alberta-B.C. border.

“We are working with the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass to provide a way for people to help. Those details are still being worked out at this time,” said Slaney. 

Asked whether the search might be scaled back, as the RCMP recently did in Nova Scotia after searching six days for missing children, Slaney said there are not such indications.

“I can tell you 100 per cent that has not been discussed. There is no current plan to scale back. We’re going to do everything we can to find Darius.”

Adam Kennedy, Training Manager with Search And Rescue  Alberta, said search efforts are continuing at a high tempo.

“The priorities remain pushing further out routes that Darius may have travelled on, while continuing to cover areas previously searched,” said Kennedy. 

The current average search radius is approximately four kilometres, with some trail searches extending out to approximately eight kilometres.

Kennedy said considerations for Darius’s neurodivergence are being taken into account. 

“Not using loud noises, that is identified that it may be startling. Another one is employing sounds that may be appealing to him.”

Searchers are using one of the body’s favorite songs in particular in hopes of catching his attention. 

Ground teams continued searching overnight, with support from RCMP air services, Civil Air Search and Rescue Association drones and Canadian Search Dog Association dogs.

Kennedy said as of Thursday, approximately 120 personnel are on scene from across Alberta and British Columbia.

“They are supported by RCMP air services and drones from CASARA and St Paul Search and Rescue. Additionally, technology has been employed that allows for drone footage to be analyzed by software, searching for anomalies that the human eye may miss.”