Just as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) announced the cessation of the ground search operation for six-year-old Darius Macdougall, a critical detail from the early days of the search is being scrutinized by the online community and volunteers: The abnormal behavior of the police dogs.

Although the RCMP insists there is no indication of foul play in this tragic disappearance and presumes the boy is no longer alive if he remains in the area, internal information from search and rescue teams suggests that K9 units exhibited inconsistent reactions, specifically detecting a strange odor that did not belong to the boy’s family or natural survival traces.

 

Abnormal Reaction from K9 Units

 

Throughout the sweeping search of nearly 22 square kilometers of complicated forested terrain, K9 units worked relentlessly. However, instead of simply tracking Darius – an autistic boy who may not respond when called – some dogs trained to detect traces of strangers reacted fiercely.

According to an anonymous source from a participating rescue team, in a hard-to-access area about 4km from the campground, one police dog scented an odor that was neither Darius’s nor that of any family member or rescue team.

“The dog suddenly changed its behavior; it stopped tracking the child’s scent and switched to alerting to the smell of another adult, a new scent. This suggested that someone else had been present there during the time Darius went missing or shortly thereafter,” the source stated.

More than 400 search and rescue members from 50 teams, across Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan, were involved in the search for Darius Macdougall, before the search was called off on Wednesday.

RCMP Dismissal, Public Questions

 

The detail regarding the “strange odor” was reported to the RCMP command on site but was ultimately excluded from public announcements because it was deemed “insufficiently compelling to change the main investigation focus” – which centered on the scenario of Darius wandering off due to his autism and being overcome by the harsh environment.

However, for the community and the boy’s family, this detail represents a final thread of hope. The police force’s strong insistence that there was no indication of foul play while simultaneously rushing to end the search has led the public to ask serious questions:

Did the RCMP overlook the clue of third-party intervention simply because they didn’t want to prolong the costly search?
Was that strange odor from an abductor or someone intentionally concealing evidence?

Though the ground search has ended, the RCMP’s promise to “continue to pursue avenues when they arise” is under intense scrutiny. Public attention is now focused on the areas where the police dogs detected the scent, where the 22-square-kilometer mystery remains unsolved.