 Missing person - Brandon Crisp, Age 15, From Barrie
Dave
22Oct2008 18:11
EDT |
| Barrie Police are combing farmland along the Oro-Medonte Rail Trail, a popular cycling trail that extends up to Orillia, in attempt to find 15-year-old Brandon Crisp.
The Barrie teen left his family’s east-end home Thanksgiving Monday on his yellow bike, with a few basics packed in a yellow backpack. He had threatened to run away after his parents grounded him from playing Call of Duty, an Internet-based military game.
Police are interviewing friends and classmates at St. Joseph’s Catholic High School, and are setting up a Command Centre on Line 2 of Oro-Medonte to conduct a highly specialized GPS ground search. His bike was found in a ditch on Line 2.
“As the weather turns, we become more concerned. With the (temperatures) down to -3 C (at night), he needs assistance if he’s out there,” said police spokesperson Sgt. Dave Goodbrand.
“There’s nothing to suggest foul play, but we do have reasons for concern about his safety. Is he cold? Is he under stress? Each hour sheds new information on that. Each tip we hope is somewhat valuable.”
Tips, so far, however, have been fruitless.
Brandon has not made contact with others on his Call of Duty team over the Internet, police said.
An OPP/Barrie Police aerial search and a preliminary ground search Sunday revealed nothing, noted Goodbrand. Officers also set out in Oro-Medonte between Lines 2 to 4.
Police also are combing through Brandon’s Xbox, laptop and desktop computer in search of clues as to where he may have headed. Two of his Xbox friends live in Oro-Medonte.
Goodbrand also noted police have also listed Brandon as missing on the Canadian Police Information Centre’s database. The case does not meet the criteria for an Amber Alert – which focuses on abducted children, along with suspected vehicles, destinations or individuals.
“A zone alert will be sent out to (police in) areas we believe he could be – those surrounding Barrie. We have a missing young teen and his description,” said Goodbrand, adding he is also enlisting the television media to broadcast his photo and story.
The officer added the public can help find Brandon by thinking critically if they spotted him. He was last seen on Thanksgiving Monday wearing blue jeans, a burgundy hoodie, a yellow-and-grey jacket, and white running shoes. The Grade 10 student is 5-foot-3 and weighs 100 pounds; he wears his hair in a crew cut.
“The more people looking the better,” said Goodbrand. “We have at least a dozen people looking, from the officers in the schools to myself to the Criminal Investigations branch.”
The police may be able to use public assistance later in the week in an area search, but are right now focusing on using specialized search techniques in the southern Oro-Medonte trail area.
The Crisp family continues their all-hours vigil for Brandon – a vigil that has kept his two sisters home from school but in touch with friends on Facebook and other internet-based networks. Groups have been formed to find Brandon.
“It’s been a nightmare. I just want him home,” said his mother, Angelika Crisp.
“The posters we put up will get wet (due to the rain).
“He’s going to be found.”
(From: http://www.simcoe.com/article/119667 )
Click on the image below, to see a larger version. |
Re: Missing person - Brandon Crisp, Age 15, From Barrie
Dave
22Oct2008 18:36
EDT |
Metroland offering reward in Crisp case
Dave
23Oct2008 13:55
EDT |
| A $10,000 reward has been issued for information that will lead police to finding Brandon Crisp. The 15-year-old Barrie teen has been missing since Oct. 13.
The reward has been posted by Metroland Media Group Ltd., which operates Metroland North Media Group, including the Barrie Advance. Brandon’s mom, Angelika, is an employee at the community newspaper.
“Our hearts go out to Angelika and her family,” Metroland president Ian Oliver said late Wednesday. “We will do whatever we can to bring Brandon home safely.”
Anyone with information in the missing teen’s case is asked to contact Barrie Police at 705-725-7025.
(From: http://www.simcoe.com/article/119996 ) |
Brandon's Body Found
Dave
6Nov2008 02:18
EST |
| Nov 05, 2008
"The body of Brandon Crisp, the 15-year-old Barrie boy who fought with his parents over video games, has been found.
Police said early this afternoon that hunters found the body near the Fourth Line in Oro-Medonte Township northeast of Barrie.
The teen was last seen Oct. 13 after he ran away from home when his parents took away his Xbox console because of what they said was his addiction to the online game Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
Sgt. Dave Goodbrand of Barrie Police said this afternoon that police have to work with the OPP and medical examiners before they can officially confirm that the body found is Brandon's.
However, students at Brandon's school, St. Joseph's High School in Barrie, were told the sad news at a special assembly this afternoon.
Many were in tears as they left the school.
Goodbrand also said that Brandon's parents had been notified. “They’re obviously distraught by the information,” he said.
Police had said that a woman saw Brandon on two occasions along a trail several kilometres from his home on the night he disappeared, and she noted the boy appeared to be having trouble with his bicycle.
His abandoned mountain bike was found in the area Oct. 20.
As the weather grew colder and snow began falling, police began a massive aerial, marine and ground search effort in the Shanty Bay area — about four kilometres from Brandon's home — near where the body was found today.
Hundreds of volunteers also aided in the search, but no trace of the boy was found at the time.
Police had received more than 1,000 tips, but failed to find any meaningful clues to the boy's whereabouts.
Two local media companies, including the Barrie Advance, where the boy’s mother works, had put up $20,000 in reward money for information to help locate the teen. Software giant Microsoft, which manufactures the Xbox, later increased that amount to $50,000.
Brandon's disappearance prompted a huge outpouring of support from across the country.
A Facebook group with nearly 22,000 members was created, and within a half-hour of the news of the discovery of the body, there were already 100 messages of condolence.
Early this afternoon, on the east side of Oro-Medonte Line 4, an OPP helicopter made low, tight circles over a cornfield. It is an area believed to have been canvassed extensively during various search efforts.
Forensic officers set up a command post at a farmhouse, which backs onto the cornfield.
Police officers on four-wheelers were canvassing the surrounding woods and fields."
(From http://www.simcoe.com/article/121348)
Investigators say there’s no foul play suspected in the death of Brandon Crisp.
Barrie OPP Const. George Silvestri told The Advance police haven’t determined the cause of death, but do not consider that foul play was a factor. Hunters came upon the teen’s body while looking for deer on the rural property off Line 4, close to Ridge Road.
Police wouldn’t say exactly where he was found, but it appeared to be near a wooded area, behind a cornfield.
Officers were called around 10:18 a.m. and the Crisp family was notified soon after.
The 15-year-old Brandon left his Hickling Trail home around 3 p.m. Oct. 13. His yellow Huffy mountain bike was found on the Oro Rail Trail near Line 2 in Shanty Bay Oct. 20.
Barrie Police had searched the area by ground, air and water with no clues to the teen’s disappearance.
Silvestri wouldn’t say if there was any trauma to the body, or if foul play is suspected. “That will come out in the course of the investigation,” he told media gathered at the site.
A post-mortem, which will indicate the cause of death and formally identify Brandon, is planned for Thursday.
Barrie Police Sgt. Dave Goodbrand said this has been a traumatic experience for all involved.
“It’s affected all of us,” he said. “Everyone has adopted Brandon as one of their own, and we wanted him to come home safe.”
Investigators have to find out what brought the teen to that location, he said, but it’s still too early in the investigation to speculate.
Jim Cameron, who lives across the street from the property on which the body was located, said he feels sad for the Crisp family.
“It’s heartbreaking for them. The police had done everything they could do – they couldn’t have done more,” said Cameron.
Ironically, Cameron lives where former homeowner Paul Kneeshaw was found dead in 1992.
Up the road, the body of Mimi Khonsari, 61 was found in May 2004. Nearby, the bodies of Jonathan Chambers, 21, and Richard Boxall, 31 were also found in 2007.
But Cameron still feels safe there.
“The 4th Line has had enough problems the last few years, but I’ve been here 15 years, it’s still a safe community.”
A vigil was held last night near the Crisp family home. Barb Jasinski did not wait until the vigil to pay her respects and was the first person to arrive at the Oro property to place some flowers there for Brandon.
“My kids go to the same school (St. Joseph High School) and we wanted to start a memorial for him,” she said.
They laid a teddy bear, lit a candle and put flowers beside the road.
“We didn’t join in the other candlelight vigils, but today’s the day we had to come and show support to the family. I honestly thought he’d come home.
“At 15, you don’t think bad things will happen when your kids leave home.”
(From http://www.simcoe.com/article/121426 ) |
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