Search for Brandon Crisp continues
By NICKI CRUICKSHANK
Posted 2 years ago
We'll stay as long as we're needed.'
The search continues for 15-year-old Brandon Crisp and more residents from across the region have been pitching in to help comb every inch of Oro-Medonte for him.
Rodney and Christine Crisp of Parry Sound say the thought that they might be related to the boy's family, jolted them into action a few days ago.
"We aren't sure if he's family, but when we saw his family on TV, I saw the last name Crisp and thought we should come down," Rodney said, pulling on a fluorescent orange jacket before heading out to search a farmer's field. "I got this eerie feeling after hearing the news and it breaks my heart. We're pumped to help and I cancelled any plans we had to come."
"We'll stay as long as we're needed," Christine added.
The couple was among more than 400 people who gathered at Line 8 of Oro-Medonte for a public search for Brandon, Saturday morning. The search was organized by theBarrie Advance, which set up a command centre at Burl's Creek Family Event Park and dispatched groups of 20 people to search along Lines 2 and 5 from 9 a. m. to 3 p. m.. The command centre remained open until 6 p. m.
The paper has managed to secure four school buses for Saturday's search. Angelika Crisp, Brandon's mother, works for theAdvance.
The search l weekend at the same times, each day starting at the command centre.
"We've set out a grid pattern and assigned groups to specific areas including fields, swamp land and bush areas," said Charmaine Nolan, who's heading up the search efforts.
"We're looking for anything -- his backpack, pieces of clothing, anything that looks out of the ordinary so we can contact police about it."
Brandon was reported missing after leaving his family's home in Barrie on Oct. 13.
The teen and his parents, Steve and Angelika, had a dispute over Brandon's obsession with playing Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on his Xbox, which he was grounded from using. Barrie police are in their sixth day of a massive search for Brandon, but the public search is separate.
"The response has been huge, and we had people already here before 9 a. m.," Nolan said.
"We've also had people call us offering to use their horses and ATVs to help our search on more difficult terrain."
During the search, Nolan said a sleeping bag and a yellow helmet were located and have been turned over to police.
Kelly Welch and her daughters, Sydney and Taylor, were hoping to find more than that as they searched fields and marshland off Line 2 Friday afternoon.
"I'm stressed right now because it's scary to think he's out here," Welch said, adding that she used to work with Angelika. Welch was accompanied by Frank Way of Gravenhurst and Penetanguishene resident Dan Lesperance and his seven-year-old son, Charles, as they combed through several acres. The group was bundled up with hats, mitts, bracing against the cold wind.
"It's so important for us to find this boy," said Way, trudging through wet grass, putting up his coat collar.
"I have a grandson who's 14 and I worry about something like this happening to him one day."
While searchers quietly moved along the ground, moving branches and ripping through shoulder-high weedy patches, young Charles decided calling out to Brandon was a better idea.
"Brandon Crisp!" he shouted as loud as he could. "Where are you? Everyone's looking for you. Come to us!"