RCMP searching for missing two-year-old boy Chase Martens

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This article was published 23/03/2016 (3548 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As hundreds of volunteers helped search surrounding farmland and woods Wednesday, the tired and distraught mother of a missing two-year-old boy buried her face in her hands and shed tears.

Twenty hours after Chase Martens went missing from his rural Manitoba home, north of Austin where he had been playing, police and volunteer searchers are no closer to finding him.

His mother was one of those out searching for her little boy and she says she’s overwhelmed at the thought of anything bad ever happening to him.

“He’s just a little boy, he can’t even take care of himself yet, and that’s the scary thing because he’s so dependent on me,” said Destiny Turner.

Turner rests her legs after being out on the search during the cold night — the search helps her handle the strain.

She said her son was last seen around 6 p.m. on Tuesday in the yard of the family home where he lives with his mom, father Tom Martens, and his six- and seven-year-old sisters.

Chase had been in the yard with his dad, who had been loading up his truck. The father and son then went for a ride to the store and returned.

Tom then dressed his boy in his boots, splash pants, hat and mitts and the boy went outside as his dad went inside. The girls were inside watching TV.

Turner last saw her son through the window as she prepared to make supper.

The boy was heading around the side of the house, and Turner thought he was going to hop on a tractor parked outside the home, as he liked to do. When the parents went outside to call Chase to come in for supper, there was no response.

Her active and happy son had never just up and wandered off, Turner said.

“He’s outside all the time, and I will call him once and he’ll go, ‘What!’” Turner said, adding her son never strayed past a wood pile in their yard. Usually, the family pets follow Chase, but their cats and their dog, Bingo — always with the boy — was laying on the ground outside the house.

Turner said she searched the dirt road that leads to the house, and scanned the surrounding fields. When she reached the main road she called to Chase but there was no response.

“That’s when the panic started to sink in,” Turner said.

Turner then ran back to her property where Tom was calling to Chase as he searched the bush. She said it had been no longer than 15 minutes between the time she had seen Chase through the window to the time the parents’ realized he wasn’t there.

Turner called her sister who advised her to call the fire department, which she did —  the response was quick.

Turner and Tom both took part in the search. Turner says she followed a nearby creek, her husband was out all night, but as of about 10 a.m. there had been no sign.

“We can’t even find a mitt or a footprint,” Turner said.

More than 200 people were involved in efforts overnight to locate the child, but Portage la Prairie RCMP said that they were unable to find Chase.

During a noon press conference, RCMP Sgt. Bert Paquet told reporters that their first priority is on the search, adding that many people in the community are hopeful that Chase will be brought home safe and sound.

"The first 24 hours are extremely important," Paquet said. "It’s a race against time."

RCMP said it’s too early to determine whether foul play is involved in the disappearance of the boy, but Paquet said, "at this point we have not ruled out anything."

Police said they have not stopped searching since they were notified of the boy’s disappearance. When they were unable to locate the boy, Paquet said police then made an appeal to public.

"We’re talking … of a little two-year-old boy who’s out playing and all of a sudden is just not there anymore. (We’re) asking for any information from the public at this point," Paquet said.

"We’ve often solved cases similar to this with very minute pieces of information."

The search continued Wednesday with people combing through fields, woods and brush as well as two planes, horses and ATVs.

"We are looking for anything and everything out of the ordinary — something that makes your Spidey sense go ‘this might be relevant,"’ he added.

RCMP estimated there were more than 300 volunteer searchers at the family’s farmyard on Wednesday, but some say the search team had ballooned to closer to 600 people.

Members of the canine unit, the Austin Fire Department and Air One have also actively searching since police first received the report about the missing child.

An exhausted David Wall, Chase’s uncle, said he and other volunteers spent all night checking the fields and bush around the family home north of Austin. Temperatures overnight in the area dipped to around -12C.

"So far we have found nothing," Wall said.

"I don’t know where he is. There’s still lots of people out now and there are planes too. There’s a lot of bush around there and a creek. There is running water and ice there," he added.

"But we’ve looked along the creeks and so far we haven’t found anything. No clothing or anything."

Wall said the creek, about a half a kilometre away from the boy’s home, was one of the first places searchers checked because there is a trail to it direct from the residence.

"His dad chops wood there so he has been there before."

Wall said Chase is a "pretty energetic boy.

"He is always very happy and always doing something. He’s outside a lot."

Around noon, police said they "currently have enough resources" and have thanked the hundreds of volunteers, many of whom are parents, that have offered to help find the boy. They had to ask people to stop coming as the numbers had reached a point where they would hamper the effort.

"I’m never surprised to see the response from the community in an event such as this one. The sheer volume of people with big hearts and great intentions often change the outcome of the investigation."

"They are very determined and we are doing everything we can to assist them," Paquet said. He added that anyone who wishes to help at this point should pray.

"We are doing the same, and we are doing everything we can to bring Chase home," he said.

“What you are looking for is absolutely anything,” a search official with the Office of the Fire Commissioner told those who had gathered outside Chase’s home to take part in the search.

As they waited to help, members of the nearby Cascade Hutterite Colony sang hymns.

When word spread online, neighbours and friends stopped whatever they were doing to join the search.

Kevin Ault grew up with Turner and happened to be in Winnipeg when he heard. He drove out to the search scene to help.

“I dropped everything to come and help out with the family, I’m personal friends with the grandfather of the kid,” Ault said.

Austin-area resident Bill Guenther said searchers came from across the area — McGregor, Brandon, Gladstone.

Guenther said he didn’t need much motivation to join the search, and took part in looking through an alfalfa field.

“This is just a given, it’s common sense, a little boy is missing,” Guenther said, adding there’s some tough terrain to cover, such as the thick trees and brush along the nearby creek.

Martens is described as a 2.5 foot tall, 30 pounds with blue eyes, light brown hair. He was last seen wearing a blue jacket, black splash pants, a red hat and boots that light up as he walks.

Police are asking members of the public who are travelling the Highway 34 and Austin area to be on the lookout for the missing boy.

Paquet asked anyone with any information, no matter how insignificant it might seem, to immediately contact their local police.

“We’re looking for anything that will help us bring Chase home,” Paquet said.