William Pilkenton | Tofino BC | Feb 2008

[Carol-Lynn]

February 17, 2008
Searchers still looking for boy missing in B.C.
By KEVEN DREWS, CP

TOFINO, B.C. -- Volunteers, police and search-and-rescue personnel spent yesterday in a second day of searching around Tofino, trying to find an eight-year-old Washington state boy last seen playing on a rocky beach.

William Pilkenton and his father David were walking along the rocky shore of Duffin Cove, near a bed and breakfast where the family was staying, Friday.

The older Pilkenton left his son for a moment and when he returned, the boy was missing.

An RCMP dog team was used in the search Friday and yesterday.

Garth Cameron of Westcoast Inland Search and Rescue said an RCMP dive team also joined the search.

An RCMP helicopter with infrared capacity to detect body heat also flew over the area.

Cameron said search-and-rescue personnel from around Vancouver Island also were used.

"That's more than enough to turn the town upside down," said Cameron.

Later yesterday, Cameron said searchers had scoured the town three times.

"No signs, no witnesses, no footprints, no concrete evidence of him being in town," said Cameron.

Some members of area First Nations manned boats to assist in the search and planned to assist again today.

The search was to be called off when darkness fell but would resume today, said Cameron.

RCMP say the area where the two were walking was rocky, slippery and wet with recent rain and the ocean breaks onto the rocks where William was last seen.

Another police officer told reporters that the missing boy's younger brother, Timothy, celebrated his sixth birthday the same day as his brother's disappearance.

The distraught parents' stayed secluded in a Tofino bed and breakfast establishment and reporters who approached the house were asked to leave by police.

Cameron said it was the biggest search in the area in a long time.

RCMP Sgt. Dave Lucas said David Pilkenton and his wife Camilla -- who were visiting Tofino from Bellingham, Wash. -- were in shock.

Some people reported seeing the young boy in town after he disappeared around 10 a.m. Friday morning, but searchers haven't ruled out the possibility he may have been swept into the water.

William is described as a white male with brown hair.

He is wearing a red jacket, multicoloured fleece, blue jeans and black rubber boots.

Search volunteers were told the boy suffers from Attention Deficit Disorder, or ADD, but that he received his regular medication for the condition on Friday morning before he disappeared.


http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/National/2008/02/17/pf-4853765.html

[Chris]

Oh that poor boy probably got swept away. I have been to Tofino, the child would be no match for a wave crashing into him. I would doubt that anything else would have happened to him. I do hope they find him to give the parents closure.

[Lallieth]

There is something wrong about this case.Something doesn't feel right

[Adrian]

Yeah, Something doesn't feel right to me either. If the area, was so wet, slippery, rocky, why was the boy left alone in the first place.

Why are the parents staying in a bed and breakfast, instead of combing the area?When a child wanders off, you try to find him NOW, you yell, scream, call police, get others to help. There is a search party, but I do wonder if that young fellow slipped into the waters.

[debbiec]

The global news out of Vancouver carried this story and they showed the rocks along the shore line where this little guy went missing.The rocks were quite rough and overlooked the ocean which crashes up against them with a lot of force. Not a place where I can imagine any parent leaving a young child. I think they said the father went back to the room to get something for his camera. It doesn't seem right, does it?

[Lallieth]

Yeah, Something doesn't feel right to me either. If the area, was so wet, slippery, rocky, why was the boy left alone in the first place.

Why are the parents staying in a bed and breakfast, instead of combing the area?When a child wanders off, you try to find him NOW, you yell, scream, call police, get others to help. There is a search party, but I do wonder if that young fellow slipped into the waters.

Thats how I feel.I have kids and 8 year olds do not wander off unless they are left longer than a moment.There is more to this than what is being reported or said

[Adrian]

After having raised 4 boys, I think an 8 year old, alone, with waves coming close, and the noise, etc., would scare him. Why didn't the father take the boy with him, and how far was the bed and breakfast? How long was the father gone?

But more importantly why didn't mom and pops, go searching, instead of hiding, in the Band B, and get the news out to reporters?They hid. I would be crying, and out there looking.

Something stinks here, and it isn't me! Could the child have slipped into the water, before the father went back? Maybe he got scared. I hope, the child is found.

[solvy]

i feel the same as you all, something seems wrong here.  Who knows the child best but their own parents?  I would never leave an 8 yr old alone near a high precipace and raging water , let alone one with ADD. I find it hard to believe that dad would do this?  Pretty sad to a birthday and a death day together though. Sadly I think he's in the water and intentionally or accidentally would be hard to prove.

[Chris]

Wow, good point. That does seem to be very odd. No parent in his\her right mind would turn there backs on an 8 year old playing on rocks overlooking the ocean. The police are trained well in deceipt so if there was anything foul, they would sense it I am sure.

Hey, a smart person would recognize that BC hands out a lot less time in prison then Washington does.

I do agree, something does not sit well here.

[Mamaraine]

Washington state has the death penalty enacted in their laws, do they not??? One point to mention, in response to the cops being able to detect deceipt... one reason why lie detectors can be fooled (as people can be fooled) is... if the suspect? (for lack of a better term) believes, in their heart & mind, that what they've done is NOT a crime, or believes that they did the right thing, whatever the case may be, they can convince anyone, as they've convinced themselves of this fact, already...

I agree it is highly suspect, seeing as my daughter is almost 11 and I STILL don't let her near the water alone, nevermind out in Tofino... I hail from Vancouver Island, and I know the tidal effects of the ocean there... as well as the gale winds and all the other factors, especially out Tofino way...no parent, no matter how defunct mentally they may be, would willingly turn their back for mere moments, nevermind go back to their hotel room or whatever, with their child playing so near the rocks and dangerous waters...

hmmm...makes you wonder how the police are handling things, seeing as we're not really being kept in the loop???

[Chris]

Washington state has the death penalty enacted in their laws, do they not???

yes

And yes, I agree about the lie detector test. BUt there are predictable behaviors a parent will experinece when a child goes missing, it is hard to pretend to know what to do. Plus there are words that you use, if they refer to the child in past tense, then the police know the parents already know the child is dead.

Hopefuly, if foul play is suspected, they are working very hard to figure it out. If they crossed the border without the child, it would be noted.

[solvy]

this case is really bothering me.  Don't you think his body should have washed up by now?   Any members close to Tofino heard anything recently? 

[Chris]

I don't think the bodies always wash up on shore. They can get dragged to sea, depending on the tide. I have not heard anything else about this. If someone knows anything, please let us know.

[Desespere]

The little guy was out of sight for a few minutes and police were called within a half an hour. The only scenario that makes sense is William fell into the water. If he were abducted it would have taken place extremely quickly, the abductor being in just the right place with a plan to get out fast. My feeling is the boy fell, he may have been startled and slipped or a big wave came up and he lost his footing. Poor little guy.


http://www.canada.com/vancouverisland/westerly/news/story.html?id=23b66192-5143-4833-a4a2-af7fdffc265b

Police seek missing boy's clothes

Gillian Riddell ,  Westerly News

Published: Thursday, April 03, 2008

The search has not ended for a seven-year old Washington state boy who went missing in mid-February and police are again asking for the public's help to aid in the ongoing effort.

RCMP are asking anyone walking local beaches to look for any items of clothing that may match what William Pilkenton was wearing when he went missing on February 15.

A red jacket with horizontal white stripes, a multi-coloured fleece jacket, and child-sized black rubber boots with copper soles are among the items RCMP are asking be brought in to either the Tofino or Ucluelet detatchments.

William Pilkenton from Bellingham, WA was last seen by his father while walking along the rocky shore in the Duffin Cove area near the bed and breakfast his family was staying in.

RCMP say David Pilkenton was away from his son for a short period of time and when he returned William was gone.

William's disappearance sparked the largest search ever coordinated in the area. Hundreds of local volunteers joined search and rescue and other emergency personnel from all over Vancouver Island in scouring the dense forest and shoreline and residential areas in a grid search extending outward from the point where William was last seen.

Along with hundreds of community and search and rescue volunteers on land, several agencies took part in the ocean-based and air searches.

RCMP say in the coming months missing person posters featuring William may be posted in Tofino and at resorts so tourists will also know what to be on the look out for.

"We are considering it," said Cst Sarah Humphries with Tofino RCMP. "There are a few other avenues we must go down first in a missing person's case."

Finding a piece of clothing William was wearing could help put together what happened the day he went missing.

? Westerly News 2008

This quote is from a funding news release:

Bennett said it was impressive to see how members of the West Coast Inland Search and Rescue Society went into action during the heart-wrenching period after the seven-year-old vanished.
Victims services don?t always have the pockets of a criminal to dip into either, he indicated.
?I want to point out it?s not just victims of crime they?re dealing with,? he said. ?When the kid got lost in Tofino they had a person there with the family for three days.?
The boy is presumed drowned and his body hasn?t been located.

http://www.westcoaster.ca/modules/AMS/article.php?storyid=3800

[Chris]

"There are a few other avenues we must go down first in a missing person's case."

One being finding out if in fact the kid did drown or if something else happened.