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Police are seeking a mountain bike like this one, the kind of bike on which Brandon Crisp was last seen

Search continues for missing teen

October 20, 2008 08:10

Police have no leads in the search for a missing Barrie teen, despite an air and ground search and a massive flyer campaign over the weekend.

The father of 15-year-old Brandon Crisp, meanwhile, says his son's addiction to an Xbox game may have led to his disappearance.

Brandon was last seen on Monday, Oct. 13 at 3 p.m. when he left his Hickling Trail home after fighting with his parents, who wanted him to stop playing video games.

"He left because we took his Xbox away," said Steve Crisp, Brandon's father. He says his son was losing sleep because he spent so much time playing Call of Duty, a World War II-themed shooting game. "This was his addiction."

Brandon asked for directions to Oro Medonte township, a semirural area east of Barrie where some of his friends lived, before taking off on his yellow and black Huffy bicycle.

That day, a resident of the area found a similar bike near Ridge Rd. and Second Line. She left the bike in the area, but by the weekend, it was missing.

Police focused their search on the area, calling in helicopters and canine units to scour the area Sunday. The search came up empty.

Over the weekend, Brandon's parents and volunteers fanned out across the city and the surrounding area to put up posters with the teen's picture and hand out flyers.

Brandon hasn't contacted any of his friends, and although police have received reports of several sightings of the teen, none has turned out to be him.

"Most (runaways) return home within 24 hours after they've cooled off," said Barrie police Sgt. Dave Goodbrand, adding that the police are broadening their search beyond the Barrie area. "He could have hopped on a bus, he could have hitchhiked out there."

Although police have determined that he hasn't logged onto his Xbox since he left, they are still trying to track down anyone he might have met playing Call of Duty.

"My personal feeling is that he's met someone online through this game," said Steve. "As a parent, you fear the worst when you don't hear anything for seven days."

Brandon's parents had tried to limit his Xbox use, but it didn't work, prompting them to take the console away.

"(Kids) play these games and it becomes an addiction. It becomes their whole life," he said.

Steve wants his son to contact someone - even if it isn't his family - to let them know he's safe.

"I want to make sure that he knows that he won't be in trouble if he comes home. We love him and we just want to get him home safe," he said.

Crisp is 5-foot-3, weighs 100 pounds and was last seen dressed in blue jeans, a burgundy American Eagle hoodie, a yellow and grey jacket with white running shoes with a camouflage stripe.

Anyone who might know where he is can contact Barrie police at 705-725-7025.

Torstar news service

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