Microsoft boosts reward money for missing Ont. teen
Microsoft has doubled the reward money for information that leads to Brandon Crisp, who has been missing from his Barrie, Ont., home for nearly two weeks.
An ongoing search for Brandon Crisp, 15, continued in Barrie, Ont., Saturday despite harsh weather conditions. (CBC)The computer company has said it will add $25,000 to the existing reward, boosting it to $50,000.
Crisp, 15, has not been seen since he left his family home on Oct. 13 following an argument with his parents about the Xbox video game Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
Police are investigating any possible role the videogame system, manufactured by Microsoft, may have played in Brandon's disappearance. Steve Crisp has suggested his son may have been lured by someone he befriended online through the game.
There has been just one sighting of Brandon since he disappeared, and few promising leads in the hundreds of tips received that might indicate his whereabouts.
But police are still actively working the case, Barrie police Sgt. Dave Goodbrand said Saturday.
"He had no cell phone, he had no money, he had no means to survive out here any longer than a certain period of time with limited clothing, " Goodbrand said.
"Is he in trouble, has he been taken against his will, has he left at his own will, is he in the province? We just don't know."
Brandon Crisp is shown here in a family handout photo. (Barrie Examiner/Canadian Press)Hundreds of volunteers have been looking for the boy around Barrie, about 100 kilometres north of Toronto, but police are expected to end the search around the Shanty Bay area on Saturday, the Barrie Examiner said.
Shanty Bay was the last location where there was a confirmed sighting of the boy the same day he disappeared, on a trail several kilometres from his house. His abandoned bike was discovered elsewhere earlier this week.
Volunteers slogged through rain and chilly temperatures Saturday looking for more clues. Though they were expected to keep hunting until 6 p.m. local time, the CBC's Aaron Saltzman said the weather may force them to quit early for a second day in a row.
Weather stalls searchSearchers were forced to retire around 3 p.m. Friday due to the harsh conditions.
"It's difficult to see any sort of sign that might pop up — it might be under water, it might be stuck behind some mud or in some tall grass," Saltzman reported from Shanty Bay.
"It's also difficult to stay outdoors in these types of conditions for any length of time."
Some volunteers said they would return Sunday to continue the search.
Steve Crisp said Saturday he remains undeterred in the hunt for his son. He said he would consider selling his house to raise the funds to continue, if necessary.
"There's a lot of work going on behind the scenes that I'm involved with and that's helping me cope with it because I don't have time to think about the worst possible scenarios anymore, which I have done obviously," Crisp said.
Brandon's parents have said there were repeated arguments over the time the boy spent playing video games, and that they had again revoked his gaming privileges the day he disappeared.
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