CANADA• Tyson FILDEY,10 & Mason FILDEY-HOLYJ, 5 ~Springwater ON

Fri Nov 12 2010

Amber Alert for missing Barrie boys

BARRIE, ONT. The OPP have issued an Amber Alert this morning for two young boys who may have been abducted in the Springwater Township area.

Police say two boys, Tyson Fildey, 10 and Mason Fildey-Holyj, 5, have not been seen since about 5:00 p.m. Thursday.

The two boys had been playing near their home on Rainbow Valley Road, about 20 kilometres northwest of Barrie, off Highway 26. A search of the area has turned up no sign of the boys and a suspicious pickup truck was seen in the area at about the same time. Both boys were wearing tan coloured Carhart coveralls with rubber boots.

The five year old was wearing a red and black “Hot Wheels” sweater.

Mason is described as full faced, medium build with brown hair. Tyson also has a full face, with medium build and brown hair. There was an unknown dark coloured pickup with a dark cap seen in the area at the time.

The Canadian Press

Amber Alert helps find two lost Ontario brothers who spent night outdoors
By: The Canadian Press
12/11/2010 5:40 PM


SPRINGWATER, Ont. - One year after Ontario police were given greater leeway to issue Amber Alerts, the system proved instrumental Friday in locating two young brothers who spent a foggy night huddled together for warmth after becoming lost in the bush.

The system — designed to inform the widest possible audience of a child's abduction — had been the target of criticism after police failed to issue an Amber Alert in the 2009 disappearance and death of Tori Stafford.

Early Friday, Ontario Provincial Police issued an alert about eight hours after 10-year-old Tyson Fildey and his five-year-old brother Mason Fildey-Holyj went missing as darkness fell.

The boys spent 12 hours in the bush about three kilometres north of their home in Springwater Township, 25 kilometres northwest of Barrie. Two municipal workers, reacting to the Amber Alert, joined the search and found the children.

"That's the purpose of the Amber Alert. (It's) to get that information out to as many people as you can," said provincial police Insp. Dave Ross.

"In this case they weren't abducted, but if it was successful even in locating missing children, that's good as well."

While the Amber Alert was instrumental in bringing Tyson and Mason home safely, last year's changes to the criteria for issuing such an alert may have also played a role.

For an Amber Alert to be triggered under the old criteria, police had to believe a child under 18 had just been abducted, consider the child to be in danger of serious bodily harm, and have enough descriptive information of a suspect or vehicle.

Under the new rules, ushered in after the disappearance and death of eight-year-old Stafford, police need only suspect, not confirm, an abduction and are not required to have detailed descriptions of an abductor or vehicle.

Ross said he couldn't speculate as to whether the greater leeway under the new rules made a difference in issuing an Amber Alert for Tyson and Mason.

"In this particular case it met the criteria at a certain point of the investigation," Ross said, noting there were concerns about an unknown pickup truck spotted in the area before the boys went missing.

"It is difficult to go back and say whether it would or wouldn't have met the criteria under the old program."

The boys told CHCH News they were tired and hungry, but happy to be home from the hospital where they were checked out.

"At the end of it all, the boys have been found no worse for wear," said Const. Peter Leon of provincial police. "A little cold, a little dirty, but smiles all around for sure."

The children were found after Dale Buchanan and Joe Moir, two employees of Springwater Township, heard about the alert and thought they could help because they know the area well.

They spotted the kids walking on the side of Flos Road 4 W. and Atkinson Road, just a few minutes' drive from the police command post, and took them to authorities around 7 a.m., just after sunrise.

"When we found them, they were talkative," Buchanan wrote in a statement. "They were just cold."

Brad Sokach, director of public works at the township, said the men reported to the command post and had just driven away when they found the children walking toward them.

"Our guys were driving up the road, and just out of the fog these two boys appeared walking down the road," Sokach said.

Ross said the alert — which is broadcast in the media, on lottery terminal screens and highway signs, and through Facebook and text messages — was an essential tool that helped the boys return home safely.

In the case of Stafford's disappearance in April 2009, Oxford Community Police didn't issue an Amber Alert because it didn't meet the criteria. The outcry over that decision sparked a review, leading to greater leeway for police to issue an alert.

John Durant, the director of Child Find Ontario, said the system doesn't deserve the criticism.

"It's a marvellous tool because it envelops more people to assist law enforcement," said Durant, who sits on an Amber Alert committee with media, police and the Ministry of Transportation.

"It's a tool that has worked very, very well."

When asked about the new criteria and what role it may have played in issuing Friday's Amber Alert, Durant noted the concern about the pickup truck.

"They prefer to err on the side of caution," said Durant, who added that's the right choice to make.

Tyson and Mason's grandfather, Bruce Fildey, said the boys told him they simply got lost.

"I guess the boys got wandering around a little bit before dark last night and it got dark and they didn't get back home," he said. "Then they got lost and didn't know where they were, so they did spend the night in the bush."

Elizabeth Fildey, the boys' cousin, said the brothers have never wandered off before, and the family spent a sleepless night searching.

"I was shaking," she said. "I'm so happy they're back."

The boys were released from the nearby Collingwood General and Marine Hospital after being checked out as a precaution.

"It's certainly something the boys will be able to go to school on Monday and talk about with their friends," said Leon, the provincial police constable.

Their minor injuries were nothing a warm bath and cup of hot chocolate wouldn't fix, Leon added.

— By Mary Gazze in Toronto
http://www.brandonsun.com/national/breaking-news/amber-alert-for-2-missing-boys-in-barrie-ont-area-107454513.html?viewAllComments=y
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