Wednesday’s safe return home of a missing Flin Flon boy marked the end of an emotional rollercoaster for a family and the culmination of an unprecedented search effort for a community.
Joel Fidler, 11, was found near the 100 Stairs shortly after 5 pm on Wednesday, 25 hours after he last left school and failed to return home.
“He’s okay. He’s got major mosquito bites and he had a headache from a little bit of dehydration, but he’s fine,” said Rhonda Fidler, Joel’s aunt, after her nephew was found.
Rhonda said Joel was hiding near the top of the 100 Stairs, by the “Lest We Forget” sign, when his great-aunt, Janice Kryschuk, and Jamie Dawson found him and promptly took him to the hospital for observation.
Earlier, Rhonda had received a call from a young woman who reported seeing Joel on Terrace Avenue, near Ruth Betts Community School, where he attends classes.
When the woman approached Joel to talk to him, he ran away, Rhonda was told. Based on his location, police advised volunteer searchers to focus on three areas, including the 100 Stairs.
“It’s just weird how his auntie found him,” said Rhonda.
Rhonda said her nephew spent Tuesday night sleeping in one of the trains on display near the Tourist Bureau.
That surprised her because she had been at the Tourist Bureau that night yelling for Joel and saw no sign of him. Other vehicles were also in the area as part of the search.
Rhonda used three words to summarize the family’s reaction to reuniting with Joel: “Lots of tears.”
Rhonda and other searchers estimate at least 100 people – many of whom knew neither Joel nor his family – were involved in the social-media-inspired effort to find the boy.
Much of the communication between searchers took place on Flin Flon Post It, a Facebook page on which community issues are debated. When Joel was found, the page exploded with jubilation.
“This community, it rocks,” said Rhonda. “It just blew me away what people did.”
Search effort
Among those aiding the search effort was Jim Galbraith, the humble pastor of the First Baptist Church.
A father of three boys himself, Galbraith didn’t think twice about climbing into his vehicle to look for Joel when he learned of the boy’s disappearance Wednesday afternoon.
“I just heard there was a missing child and I decided to start looking. It doesn’t take much more than that, really,” he said.
Galbraith drove around, pulling over a couple of times to ask bystanders if they had seen Joel or knew of his disappearance. He also spent about an hour at the Duck Pond hoping to spot the boy.
Like Rhonda, Galbraith was heartened by the search campaign.
“I am so impressed with this community,” he said. “One fella I talked to, he pulled up at the Duck Pond when I was sitting there. He said he’d been looking [for Joel] since 8 [in the] morning. He had just been driving around and getting out and looking.”
Prior to his being found, Joel’s grandmother, Penny Janvier, told CBC the boy was upset after getting in trouble at school and had run away after school on Tuesday.
After failing to return home after school, security footage showed Joel was at Walmart at 5:40 pm. Those security images were put on Facebook to help with the search effort.
Meanwhile, “Missing” posters with Joel’s picture quickly went up at businesses throughout the area.
While Rhonda couldn’t sleep Tuesday night, her thoughts were with not only her nephew, but also his mom.
“As a mom, I just can’t imagine it,” said Rhonda, an assistant manager at Walmart.
After Joel was located safe and sound, Galbraith took to Facebook to post one of many celebratory messages.
“I just posted, ‘Awesome! Praise the Lord and all his awesome helpers!’” said the pastor.
