COMOX, B.C. — Rescuers say a three-year-old boy who wandered away from his Vancouver Island home Sunday evening has been found safe — and covered in berry juice.
Const. Rob Gardner with the Comox Valley RCMP said Lochlan McKenzie was playing in the yard of his home near Union Bay, south of Courtenay, Sunday evening when he went missing.
It appears as though the little boy simply decided to ride his scooter bike further than he was supposed to, Gardner said.
Crews searched all night and a team on an ATV found McKenzie near a logging road several kilometres from his home around 11 a.m. Monday, about 14 hours after he had gone missing.
The rural area where he disappeared is "a maze of logging roads" and at one point the child crossed a major highway on an overpass, Gardner said.
"He had quite the adventure," he said.
A significant effort was mounted to find the boy, including eight search-and-rescue teams from across Vancouver Island, said Paul Berry, commander of the Comox Valley Ground Search and Rescue.
A large contingent of RCMP officers also assisted in the search, along with the Mounties' air and marine services, a drone, dog teams and crews on horseback.
When searchers found McKenzie, the boy was eager to go for a ride on their ATV, Berry said.
"He was quite unfazed by the whole experience. He had been feasting on blackberries and had a face like a three-year-old, covered in purple," he said.
The boy "regaled searchers with his adventure," and told them he thought he had gone too far, Berry added.
The veteran rescuer said McKenzie's parents were "over the moon ecstatic" to see their adventurous son.
"It was a pretty worrisome night for the entire family," Berry said.
