Family remembers Darius MacDougall one year after disappearance

On Sept. 21, 2025, six-year-old Darius MacDougall vanished from a public camping area near the Alberta-British Columbia border in the Crowsnest Pass.

Almost at once, police, search and rescue crews and other first responders began a full-scale search of the mountainous terrain in an effort to find Darius.

Now, one year later, with no answers, Darius’ family has returned to that camping spot, holding out hope that he is still out there, somewhere.

“Darius, we still love you, miss you. We’re never going to stop searching for you, buddy,” said Leslie Tallmadge, Darius’ grandfather. “I come here and I walk and I look, (I’d) look anywhere for you.”

The search effort was extensive, with drones, dogs, helicopters and hundreds of crew members, including specialized teams such as underwater divers, all taking part in the hopes of finding Darius.

On Monday, one year after Darius went missing, officers released a statement saying they haven’t stopped their investigation.

“The Alberta RCMP recognizes that Darius’ disappearance continues to weigh heavily on his family and those who know and love him. The passage of time does not lessen the importance of finding answers, and investigators remain committed to pursuing information that may help bring clarity to what happened to Darius.”

They say investigators remain focused on reviewing information, pursuing viable leads and identifying any information that may help provide answers about Darius’ disappearance.

“To date, RCMP has received just over 70 tips from the public regarding this investigation, and every tip was fully investigated. Unfortunately, none have led to finding Darius. However, we will continue to investigate.”

For Darius’ family, the concern is that he was never lost in the mountains, but kidnapped instead.

“Somebody had to have taken him. There’s just been too many people out here, too many searches not to find anything. To me, somebody as come and taken him,” said Tina Herron, Darius’ grandmother.

Tallmadge agrees, believing search crews exhausting all efforts should have yielded results.

“11 days straight with 200 plus searchers every day — there’s no way we missed anything,” said Tallmadge.

At the time, RCMP said there was no evidence of a kidnapping and an Amber Alert was never issued, something that has never sat well with Herron.