'I just want to hug him': Search continues for missing four-year-old boy near MacKenzie
Credit to Author: Denise Ryan| Date: Sun, 18 Aug 2019 22:52:21 +0000
Search and rescue crews are searching for a four-year-old boy who went missing Saturday near MacKenzie, B.C.
George Hazard-Benoit was sleeping in a van while on an outing with his mother and her friend, who were picking berries at Lions Lake, 170 kilometres north of Prince George.
When his mother returned to the van, which was 10 metres away from where they were harvesting berries, the boy was gone.
That was at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.
His father, Kristopher Benoit, who is separated from the child’s mother and has primary custody, said he wasn’t notified until 4 p.m. that his son was missing in the bush.
At 11 p.m. Saturday he got news that raised a spark of hope, a child’s boot print had been found not far from where George went missing.
Nearly 15 hours later, he has had no further updates on the search.
“I just want to hug him,” said Benoit from the home he shares with his partner, Julie Pronk, and her three children, including five-year-old Tobias, with whom George shares the cosy bunk bed he should have been sleeping in last night. “I’m never going to let him out of my sight again.”
Benoit describes himself as a “typical helicopter parent,” who is, if anything, overprotective of little George.
George saw his mother, Tykeo Hazard, every weekend and the former couple were in the process of formalizing a custody arrangement when he went missing, said Benoit.
Benoit said the four-year-old is bright, with piercing blue eyes and a shy demeanour, and likes to stay close to whoever he is with. “He’s not one to run away,” said Benoit.
The four-year-old is missing in the area of Lions Lake near Mackenzie, B.C.
When Benoit got the call on Saturday around 4 p.m. from Hazard telling him George was missing, he was devastated. “I was furious, and then that anger turned to fear,” said Benoit.
“Maybe he woke up and was scared because he didn’t see his mom. Maybe he called for her and she didn’t answer and he went looking for her,” said Benoit, his voice wavering.
Benoit, a cook in the town of Mackenzie, said he was up nearly all night, trying, although he knew it was impossible, to send a message to his son. When he did fall asleep, there were nightmares.
Benoit said he was too overwhelmed by his emotions to join the search party but his partner, Pronk, was out for hours with other volunteers and family members Saturday.
“It’s been raining, which is a mixed blessing because the rain gives you footprints. The terrain is hilly, and bushy, lots of brush, undergrowth and foliage,” said Pronk.
George is three feet tall with auburn hair. He was last seen wearing dark blue cargo pants.
Authorities are trying to match the boot print found near Lions Lake with the little camouflage boots George was wearing.
Benoit said George’s special Paw Patrol blanket is waiting for him at home. “He loves that blanket. We’re hopeful, that’s all I can say. We’re hoping he gets home safe.”
According to MacKenzie Search and Rescue, more than 100 volunteers along with SAR teams from Prince George and the North Peace region are assisting in the search.
The District of MacKenzie has set up a command centre at the Lions Lake campground to support the ground search and emergency personnel.
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