CTV News Ottawa

Updated: Wed Nov. 05 2008 10:23:21 PM
ctvtoronto.ca

Police say a body found in a wooded area near Barrie, Ont., is likely Brandon Crisp, a teenager who has been missing for several weeks.

Ontario Provincial Police Const. George Silvestri said Wednesday that it's too early to speculate whether foul play was involved.

"We have to examine every possibility," he told reporters during a news conference in Barrie.

But he said there was "absolutely no fear for any residents" of the community.

Silvestri told CTV Newsnet that hunters called them at about 10:15 a.m. saying they had discovered a body in a farm field near Line 4 and Ridge Road of Oro-Medonte Township.

"At this point in the investigation, it's believed to be Brandon Crisp," Sgt. Dave Goodbrand of the Barrie Police said. "We obviously have to determine that 100 per cent through medical examination and we're obviously following up on that right now."

A coroner was taken out to the scene. OPP officers removed the body late in the afternoon. The post-mortem will take place on Thursday.

The 15-year-old had stormed out of his parents' home on Oct. 13 in a tiff over his obsession with an online video game.

On Oct. 19, police started searching for the teen in an area just northeast of Barrie, focusing on the Oro-Medonte Rail trail that runs along the north shore of Lake Simcoe's Kempenfelt Bay. They located his abandoned bicycle.

At one point, a helicopter searched from the air, a police boat patrolled the shoreline and officers accompanied by dogs checked the woods and fields in the rural area.

From Oct. 24-26, volunteers searched an area outside the police grid.

More than 1,000 tips poured in. Media companies and Microsoft, the company that makes the Xbox gaming console, offered a total of $50,000 in reward money.

Police ended their ground search on Oct. 28, but the search resumed again last Saturday, canvassing motorists and others for information.

This work uncovered a new witness who placed Brandon's location further east than originally thought.

When Brandon left home, he didn't have a cellphone, wallet or bank card with him. Police said he had little more than the clothes on his back.

Steve and Angelika Crisp, Brandon's parents, feared their son may have been grabbed by some online predator he may have met while playing "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare."

Goodbrand said investigators have spoken with the Crisps.

"They're obviously distraught by the information," he said.

Condolences are pouring into a Facebook group dedicated to Brandon.

At St. Joseph's High School in Barrie, many of the 1,100 students burst into tears and said a prayer for their classmate upon hearing the news.

With a report from CTV Toronto's Jim Junkin and files from The Canadian Press