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Union Bay boy, 3, rescued after night lost in forest

When three-year-old Lochlan McKenzie was finally found by searchers on Monday morning, after wandering away from his home the evening before, his face was purple and blue from eating berries.
Lochlan McKenzie
Lochlan McKenzie with his rescuers. Photograph by CHEK News

When three-year-old Lochlan McKenzie was finally found by searchers on Monday morning, after wandering away from his home the evening before, his face was purple and blue from eating berries.

Lochlan, who disappeared while playing outside on his bike, was found safe on a logging road about 10:30 a.m. Monday — nearly 14 hours after he went missing. He was discovered, still with his bicycle, by a team on an ATV after an overnight search in Union Bay, a community of about 1,200 south of Courtenay.

Searchers were elated. “Just the best feeling,” said Paul Berry of Comox Valley Ground Search and Rescue. “This is the outcome we work for and work hard for.”

He said Lochlan was doing well when he was found a few kilometres from his home, on the other side of Highway 19A. “He was resourceful and feeding himself,” Berry said. “He was in good condition, happy to see the searchers.”

The family was “absolutely thrilled” when Lochlan was returned, Berry said.

“A very emotional reunion.”

Lochlan’s father, Darius McKenzie, told CHEK News that searchers called down from a helicopter to say his son was safe. “I’m pretty amazed right now and pretty happy,” he said. “We asked him where he slept and he said he slept on his bike. I don’t know how that’s possible.”

Dad said Lochlan also described having to ride around a lot of “poop” on his bike. “And that’s all bear poop [because] there’s no one up there, that’s just logging roads and it’s all gated.”

Describing his experience, Lochlan told CHEK: “I went a far way, way from home. I ate lots of berries.”

News of the boy’s safe return was a huge relief, said Union Bay resident Elise Harkies. “It was nice to see all the communities come together to look for him.”

Berry said help came from many sources. “It ramped up very quickly. We had 65 searchers [Monday] from six teams — from Campbell River in the north to Lake Cowichan in the south — and then a large RCMP presence, as well.”

The RCMP had a helicopter, a drone, police dogs and a vessel patrolling the shoreline.

“We used a lot of resources, put as many people in there as we could,” Comox RCMP Const. Rob Gardner said.

Gardner said the boy was found near Langley Lake. While the lake is only about two kilometres from his home, the boy likely travelled about five or six kilometres “when you add in all the logging roads,” he said.

Lochlan was found by a group of searchers who were driving an all-terrain vehicle, which turned out to be a way of building a connection with the boy.

“He’s meeting strangers out in the middle of nowhere, so they sat him in the front seat and chatted with him and let him sit behind the wheel for a little bit,” Berry said.

Lochlan talked about his experience being an adventure, Berry said, and he “didn’t seem all that concerned about it.”

Harkies, who lives about a kilometre from the boy’s family, said she and husband A.J. were having dinner about 8:45 p.m. Sunday when they heard the police outside. “So we went walking our dog to see what was going on, and all of a sudden there was a bunch of officers that were on the road looking for him,” Harkies said. “One of them stopped us and asked if we’d seen this little boy who’s three and his little bike.”

Harkies joined the search effort with her husband. She described the terrain as heavily forested. “It’s very rural up here.”

jwbell@timescolonist.com

CHEK News: Three-year-old boy lost in wilderness is happy to be home