Teen goes missing after argument over Xbox use

[Praxius]

Update:

Police stumped during search for Barrie teen
CTV.ca | Police stumped during search for Barrie teen

Police used dogs, a boat and a helicopter to search for Brandon Crisp, a Barrie, Ont. teen who hasn't been seen since Thanksgiving Monday and who hasn't tried to contact friends.

Now police are starting to worry about whether Brandon, a fan of outdoors wilderness TV shows, can adequately shelter himself against the night-time cold. No break-ins have been reported at area cabins.

"We've been monitoring the weather and looking at weather patterns since the time he left home," Sgt. Barrie Goodbrand of the Barrie Police told CTV Toronto on Thursday. "There have been a number of nights that have been in the -4, -5 range. We had snow on the ground two nights ago. So we're concerned about Brandon's safety."

More than 800 tips have poured in from the public. Police say they will continue the search through the weekend. They are focusing on the areas around Shanty and Kempenfelt Bays on Lake Simcoe. Hundreds of volunteers are helping out.

At St. Joseph's High School in Barrie, prayers were said at a vigil. Inside the school's packed, silent auditorium, candles flickered beside photographs of Brandon placed on the stage.

Brandon's friends at the high school have also started a graffiti wall where everyone has written a message to him.

"I just hope we see Brandon home today, with all the support and all the love and all the prayers," said Angelika Crisp, Brandon's mother. She attended the vigil, along with her huband.

On Oct. 13, Brandon, 15, left his house following an argument with his parents after they confiscated his Xbox.

Later that day, after his parents reported him missing, police found Brandon's bicycle in a ditch northeast of Barrie.

On Wednesday, police said a woman came forward saying she spoke to Brandon the day he disappeared after noticing he was having trouble with his bike. Brandon had been walking towards Orillia, which is northeast of Barrie.

Goodbrand said the information received from the woman was helpful because police had wondered whether the bike could have been put in the ditch by somebody else.

Is Brandon still in Ontario?

Goodbrand also said police are considering the possibility that Brandon could be out of the province.

"That's why we're looking at his computer usage, some of the users that he's had contact with, see where they reside, look at their IP address," he said.

"...It's important for us to push this story nationally because the more people across this country that know Brandon's face and his story it's more likely that they'll see him and be able to lead us in his direction."

Brandon's parents fear their son may have become mixed up with people he met while playing video games online.

He had become addicted to the game "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare," they told CTV in an interview Wednesday.

Brandon had skipped school on the Thursday prior to Thanksgiving weekend, causing his parents to revoke his Xbox privileges -- a disciplinary measure they had used, his father said.

He is described as male, white, 100 pounds, 5'2", with short sandy blond hair.

When Brandon was last seen, he was wearing a yellow and grey jacket, a grey American Eagle-brand hoodie, blue jeans, white runners with a camouflage stripe on the sides. He may also be carrying a yellow and grey back pack.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Barrie police at 705-725-7025.

Metroland Media Group Inc., which publishes the Barrie Advance where Brandon's mother works, is offering a $10,000 reward for information that helps police find the boy.

"We're hoping that anyone, even with the tiniest bit of information about seeing Brandon in the time since he's been missing, will be motivated to come forward," said the newspaper's Charmaine Nolan.

 

[Praxius]

Update:

Parents want police to press online data probe for missing youth
Parents want police to press online data probe for missing youth

The parents of an Ontario youth who has been missing for nearly two weeks want police to look for more clues in their son's laptop and Xbox hard drive.

"He's out there now with someone he met online" through playing on the console, Steve Crisp said Sunday as he speculated about the whereabouts of his son Brandon, 15.

"They're harbouring him or he's being held against his will," with the second being more likely, Crisp said.

Oh give me a break.... :roll: He sure seems set on that idea, even though he seems to have no clue about the details.

Maybe you were just a bad parent, he hates your damn guts and never wants to return back home? Did that ever set in your mind at all during this time? No, because you could never do anything wrong, you're a perfect parent.... that's why your son pissed off on you..... good on ya. No, it couldn't have anything to do with your own involvement and responsibilities as a parent that caused him to react as he did.... it's gotta be some mysterious phantom online nerd clan that kidnapped your child..... sure sure.... and they were just waiting for this moment to take your precious child away?

Cripes...

Brandon left his family home in Barrie, about 100 kilometres north of Toronto, on Oct. 13 after his parents said they would take his Xbox away because he had become addicted to the video game Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. He has not been seen since.

Steve Crisp didn't fault the Barrie police for their extensive air and ground search for the youth — which is expected to end Sunday — but is convinced the key to his son's disappearance lies in someone he met online while playing the game.

"I really need the help of the police now in really delving in and getting right to this Xbox hard drive," to find Brandon's contacts, he told CBC News on Sunday.

Asked if the police had done enough, he said yes to the physical search but "I don't think so" in terms of the online investigation.

His wife, Angelika, suggested it might take a larger force than the Barrie police, such as the Ontario Provincial Police. Steve Crisp agreed, saying the OPP or RCMP have the resources to do online investigations.

New identity acquired

Angelika Crisp said the parents knew the game "was taking over his life," but there was another level of involvement they only discovered after Brandon left.

Steve Crisp said there are online gaming teams that play in tournaments for money. "I wish I'd known before" because the team environment with its strict rules "gave him a whole new identity."

Oh pa'lease.....

When Crisp said he would take Brandon's Xbox away for good, "basically, I took away his identity." That prompted the youth to leave, he said.

He did not blame Xbox maker Microsoft Corp. for Brandon's disappearance, conceding that computers and the internet are facts of life. Online tournaments are the real problem, he said.

Are you fk'n kidding me? Online Tournaments are the "REAL" problem? No, how about you not checking wtf your kid is getting into before it's too late being the real problem you blame passing scum bag?

Oh yes.... Online Tournaments are such a big problem.... cuz you know, missing children are being reported so much of these days whom seem to be sucked into some online video game child slave labour camps.... such an epidemic :roll: grasp at some more straws why don't you?

Reward increased

Microsoft has boosted to $50,000 the reward for information leading to the boy's return and opened the door to getting data from the Xbox.

Jordan Peterson, a psychologist at the University of Toronto, said people do create identities in online worlds. "These are far more than games. They are unbelievably powerful technologies" and people can get deeply involved with them.

People from Barrie and distant points, including Vancouver, have joined the search, Crisp said. They are looking in different areas from the police.

"It's been a tremendous outpouring of support for Brandon," he said.

Hundreds of volunteers have been looking for the boy around Barrie.

Police have been searching around the Shanty Bay area several kilometres from his house, the last location where there was a confirmed sighting on the day he disappeared. His abandoned bike was found elsewhere earlier this week.

If he was that hard core into the game, then why would he run away so he couldn't continue playing?

Then again, they also claim he hasn't touched his account since he left..... of course it's not difficult to make a new account.

This whole situation smells familiar to the whole situation in Bridgewater where the mom sobbed to the media about her missing child after they fought..... which turned out that now the mother is being charged for the murder.

I'm not saying that the parents directly murdered their child in this case, as apparently a witness saw the kid riding the bike at one point..... but the parents involvement in this is a lot more then what they are giving to the public...... they're passing most of the blame and the buck onto other things, such as some mysterious online clan abducting the kid..... if this ever occured, this would be the very first time I've ever heard of it.

Frig most of these clans are fat pimply kids who don't have the energy, let alone a car of their own to go around kidnapping kids to play their games. Some of the clans have strict guidelines on how one conducts themselves online, such as not cheating, swearing, using porn spray images (Depending on what you play) and to attend on certain days for playing/training..... but they sure as hell don't control your life outside of the game, they don't hold you like some religious cult, and if you miss too many meetings, they'd much rather find someone else and kick you out then to kidnap you.... come on.... jeez. :roll:

Someone's gotta give these parents a good smack in the face to smartin' them up.

 

[Praxius]

Zany Update:

Missing Ont. teen may not be in Canada: police
Missing Ont. teen may not be in Canada: police

Police searching for an Ontario teenager whose disappearance may be connected to online video games say there is a possibility he is no longer in the country.

Brandon Crisp left his Barrie, Ont., home on Oct. 13 after his parents revoked his Xbox privileges because he had become obsessed with the video game Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. He has not been seen since.

Investigators said they are not discounting reports that some of Brandon's gaming friends were in the United States, according to a report Wednesday in the Barrie Examiner.

"We don't know where he is, so there is that potential that he could have gone south of the border," Sgt. Dave Goodbrand told the local newspaper.

"That's a scenario we have to consider, whether he went across on his own will or against his will."

Police are investigating any possible role the videogame system, manufactured by Microsoft, may have played in Brandon's disappearance. Players of the online games come from all over the world, Goodbrand said Wednesday.

"It's definitely one of the reasons we wanted to push the story nationally and internationally," he told the Examiner.

Brandon's parents have been urging police to look for more clues in their son's laptop and Xbox hard drive.

Steve Crisp has said he is convinced the key to his son's disappearance lies in someone he met online while playing the game, and that police need to put more effort into their online investigation.

"I really need the help of the police now in really delving in and getting right to this Xbox hard drive," to find Brandon's contacts, he told CBC News on Sunday.

The crime show America's Most Wanted has posted a profile of Brandon on its website that includes a photograph of the blond-haired teen and a description of him as an "avid online gamer who specifically plays 1st person shooters."

"If investigators feel that Brandon may have crossed the border, we could look into broadcasting something," show spokesman Avery Mann told the Examiner Wednesday.

The program was reportedly told about Brandon's disappearance by Child Save, a missing child registry system that operates across Canada and the U.S.

Hundreds of volunteers have been looking for the boy around Barrie, about 100 kilometres north of Toronto, but to no avail. The teen was last seen the day he disappeared on a trail several kilometres from his house. His abandoned bike was discovered elsewhere earlier this week.

A candlelight vigil was scheduled for Wednesday night in Shanty Bay, just east of Barrie. It was organized by the operators of the Facebook group 'Where is Brandon Crisp,' which currently has more than 17,000 members.

Well... good luck with looking for any valid information on the X-Box.... they might have a chance with the Laptop through emails and MSN, but the kid sounds pretty resourceful if he (on his own will) hopped the border.... they claim he's into survival shows and all that good stuff, and I would imagine he also knows how to clear most information on a computer.... it only takes a couple of clicks.

Of course the police can scan for deleted files, but that can only go so far and there are also methods of preventing them from finding that information as well.

 

[EagleSmack]

I think the boy is dead.

 

[lone wolf]

I think the boy is dead.

Hate to say it, but....

The disappearance has police up here wondering if there is a connection with the disappearance of Justin Pollari in 2001. According to local TV news, Pollari's family have relocated to Barrie.

The Sault Star - Ontario, CA
Midland Free Press - Ontario, CA

 

[Diarygirl]

How sad this is? I think 15 is the hardest age for a youth....hopefully he is just hanging tight somewhere and is safe. Sometimes, it doesn't matter how much a parent tries to reach their child or discipline, the child thinks they can make decisions of their own....I hope he finds his way back to his home with safety....the issues can be worked on after that no matter who/what is to blame....these types of events sure makes a person very aware of what can lie ahead for parents.

 

[Zzarchov]

I think Prax is probably closer to the truth, the ridiculous claims that the family is putting forward, contradictory information,

Its seeming like they might be to blame.


In the very least, if this kid is a "perfect angel" who "never does anything like this" then why does he skip school and why did they have to try all this punishment. Obviously he's a problem kid.

 

[Praxius]

I think Prax is probably closer to the truth, the ridiculous claims that the family is putting forward, contradictory information,

Its seeming like they might be to blame.

In the very least, if this kid is a "perfect angel" who "never does anything like this" then why does he skip school and why did they have to try all this punishment. Obviously he's a problem kid.

Agreed... I'm leaning more on the parents involvement in this situation cuz they sure as hell jumped on the game addiction card pretty quickly, never even offered up the common confessions of a loving parent by putting some blame on themselves (I should have done better, maybe I shouldn't have raised my voice, etc.)

When they start blaming everything and everybody else and never accept a tiny bit of responsibility is usually a first sign of guilt if you ask me (Trying to avoid to an extreme of making anyone focus on them) the mother in Bridgewater who killed her daughter fit this to a tee.... these guys are just doing a better job by trying to focus attention to the X-Box, to his laptop, to Microsoft, to Bill Gates ffs..... to being kidnapped by online nerds..... now apparently he must have skipped the country into the US.

I tell ya.... they sure do have a crap load of assumptions based on a crap load of nothing...... sounds to me like they're killing time and causing a load of media hype for something that simply doesn't add up.

I think the police should haul their asses in and question them.... to me, they're prime suspects #1.... simply because there are no other suspects to begin with. If there was a clue on his laptop or X-box, they would have found it by now..... frig, I'm no police officer specializing in digitial content, but even I could get all the information on those two things in an hour or two.... if the police havn't found anything on them by now, they never will.... no matter how much the parents bitch and moan that there's gotta be something.

Spoiled kid balanced by screwed up parenting..... seeings how there was only one report of one witness claiming to have seen him on his bike to me isn't very reliable. It's a bright yellow bike (Pretty fancy one too I might add) and I am sure other drivers would have noticed sometime down the road a kid with a bright yellow bike..... it certainly wasn't camo. The only thing I could see as making sense with just one witness seeing this kid biking down the road is if this road was like a desert highway (Which it's not) or the parents bribed or knew this witness enough to get her to drop the bike at that location.

Which makes me wonder if the police actually searched the home for a body or investigated the home for anything suspicious.

I understand giving parents who "Lost" their child some space and bias due to emotional appeal, but after this long, I think it's time they direct their investigation on the parents and see if one of them will crack.

If I had a child go missing on me, the very first thing I would be doing is making sure the police grill me and the mother long enough and in detail enough to make sure we are not the suspects.... then they can focus more on the real searching.

 

[missile]

I'd say he's living on the streets in Toronto with a group of other teens and doesn't want to be found and brought home.

 

[Praxius]

Nope... seems as though he's dead:

Autopsy scheduled on body believed to be missing Ontario teen
Autopsy scheduled on body believed to be missing Ontario teen

An autopsy scheduled for Thursday on the body of a teenager believed to be Brandon Crisp could reveal what happened to the 15-year-old who left home after a dispute with his parents over a video game.

Police believe the body is the Barrie, Ont., teenager but are awaiting pathology results to make a confirmation.

The results could also show how he died. Police have said they do not believe foul play was involved, but have not conclusively ruled it out.

"I think at this point, because it's so early in the investigation … we can’t rule foul play out at this point," Sgt. Dave Goodbrand of the Barrie police told CBC News.

"Anything's possible. But at this point, I don’t think investigators have any reason to believe that the public is in danger but we just want to get out we obviously have a lot of work to do before we can rule out foul play issues."

The body was discovered Wednesday morning by hunters in a field northeast of his hometown of Barrie. It was found in the Shanty Bay area where searches have been taking place since Oct. 20.

The teen disappeared on Oct. 13 after arguing with his parents over a favourite Xbox video game, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. They had taken the game away from him because they felt he had become obsessed with it and his many connections in the online gaming community.

Officers had been searching cornfields and the bush in the Shanty Bay area around Barrie where Crisp was last reported seen walking on the Oro-Medonte Rail Trail with his bicycle.

Crisp was sighted twice on the day he disappeared. His bicycle was found on Oct. 20.

 

[karrie]

I figured from the beginning that some freak criminal with a sense of timing had met the poor kid.

I wish to hell I'd been wrong.

 

[Praxius]

Could be that he just froze to death out there. I don't see any real information pointing one way or another at this time...... just that they found a body of a teenager and there is a good chance that it is him.

 

[shadowshiv]

From what I have read so far, the police are saying they believe there is no foul play attributed to his death. It may have been the elements that got him. If hypothermia had set in he would have just gone to sleep and never woken up. I hope that it was at least painless for him.:-(

 

[Risus]

I figured from the beginning that some freak criminal with a sense of timing had met the poor kid.

I wish to hell I'd been wrong.

Police said last evening that there were no signs of foul play.

 

[karrie]

Police said last evening that there were no signs of foul play.

A perfectly healthy boy just died in a field? Come on guys. I know I've been accused of being naive sometimes but wow.

 

[shadowshiv]

A perfectly healthy boy just died in a field? Come on guys. I know I've been accused of being naive sometimes but wow.

Don't forget that he left with only the clothes that he had been wearing. He was not dressed for the cold, and they had gotten snow around that time. He was not a very big kid, so the cold definately could have affected him quite quickly. He was a teenager and could have thought that he could "tough it out".

We won't know for sure what happened until the autopsy is completed.

 

[karrie]

Don't forget that he left with only the clothes that he had been wearing. He was not dressed for the cold, and they had gotten snow around that time. He was not a very big kid, so the cold definately could have affected him quite quickly. He was a teenager and could have thought that he could "tough it out".

We won't know for sure what happened until the autopsy is completed.

How many bums lay around on city streets in even colder conditions, barely clothed, ill, malnourished? It doesn't make sense that they'd manage to not freeze to death but a healthy teen would. But maybe that's just me being jaded about the world and the predators that live in it, not to mention, having no faith in autopsies... they're not what tv makes them out to be as far as 'proof' of diddly squat. I've only known two people who required autopsies due to having died in unknown ways, and both times the answer was the same... we have no answer.

 

[Praxius]

It very well could be a murder..... heck the situation with the mother in Bridgewater who killed her daughter went right along the same lines as this.... they got in a fight, the child ran off.... weeks later the body was found.

I knew from the bat that the mother killed her daughter in that situation.... and I have commented in this thread that I believe these parents have a stronger connection to this situation then they are giving..... however, there isn't enough evidence/information to actually come to that conclusion just yet.

There was enough in the Bridgewater case for the police to charge the mother..... I am sure they will find enough information on this situation to determine cause of death.

And no, autopsies are certainly not as straight forward and simple as they appear on TV/Movies/CSI..... CSI is loaded with BS.... but that's a different topic. But I believe they will be able to determine what happened.

They did claim he watched a lot of survivor shows and such, and perhaps he figured he could hack it.... then again that could have been a cover..... who knows at this stage?

All I know is if he followed "Man vs. Wild" as a fan, no wonder why he died..... that guys' an idiot.

 

[Outta here]

... and I have commented in this thread that I believe these parents have a stronger connection to this situation then they are giving..... however, there isn't enough evidence/information to actually come to that conclusion just yet.

I hate to say it, but those same thoughts crossed my mind. Yet I really didn't want to mention it because I think ...what if the family or parents are doing searches on their missing child's name... and somehow stumble upon a thread here about their plight - and here we are conjecturing all kinds of things about what might have happened and tossing about the possibility of their involvement.

All I know is if that was my child, I'd already be crazy with worry - then reading some forum posts about other people wondering if I'd done it - I'd come completely unglued right then and there. Looney bin for me. (ya ya I know, short trip lolll)

It's just such a horrific, unnatural thought - a parent harming their own child. Ugh. That poor family. I hope my jaded, cynical thoughts about 'what might have happened' are wrong..... I really do.

 

[karrie]

It's just such a horrific, unnatural thought - a parent harming their own child. Ugh. That poor family. I hope my jaded, cynical thoughts about 'what might have happened' are wrong..... I really do.

While I've never hurt my kids, and don't intend to ever, I have been in arguments and fights that have made it clear to me exactly how it is that parents end up going overboard and injuring their kids, or worse.