Alberta RCMP say missing 6-year-old boy has less than 5% chance of survival

The chances of finding six-year-old Darius Macdougall are falling, search and rescue officials say. The Lethbridge, Alta., boy went missing a week ago.

Authorities in Alberta said Sunday that Darius Macdougall, a six-year-old boy who went missing one week ago while on a walk with family members in the Crowsnest Pass in southwest Alberta, has not been found.

During a press conference on Sunday afternoon, RCMP Cpl. Gina Slaney stated that the agency met with Macdougall’s family this morning to discuss “survivability,” given the nature of the “terrain, exposure to the elements, and the amount of time that this search has gone on,” since the boy disappeared.

“At the point we are at, the survivability is less than five per cent,” Slaney said, adding that specific search tactics are changing as efforts to locate Macdougall continue.

Adam Kennedy from Search and Rescue Alberta (SAR) said, “Given this unfortunate stage of the search, some tactics will be changed and ground search methods will be adjusted to reflect this.”

“Additionally, there will be changes to tactics for previously engaged assets, such as air assets using infrared technology.”

Approximately 200 personnel were on the scene on Sunday, including around 100 SAR volunteers, as well as surface and underwater search assets, which were also present to re-search areas covered earlier, Kennedy said.

“Anytime decisions like this have to be made and that consideration is taken, there are multiple different factors that go into it,” Kennedy said.

Those factors, he added, include Darius’ health status when he went missing, the local terrain, the potential impact of weather and a major statistical analysis.