An entire community mobilizes to search and find Sooke teen

RCMP issued a missing person release on Wednesday (Feb 18, 2026) for a 14-year-old teen last seen in Sooke that day. Up to 100 community volunteers plus 45 members of search and rescue teams from across the Island, including a team from Nanaimo, took part in the search. Lisa Nilsson, volunteer search coordinator, said: "Between seven and eight o'clock last night [Wednesday] there was probably over fifty people. By nine o'clock there was over 100-people that were involved in doing the searches." The Facebook page 'Meanwhile in Sooke' provided ongoing search updates. Shannon Holly posted a video to Facebook from the conference room at the community hall, directing volunteers to a muster point. Steve Anderson, a Sooke resident, found the teen just before 10 a.m. Thursday in a vacant home at the end of a dead-end street on Carpenter Road. "I ran away when I was about thirteen years old, in Sooke in that same area. And that's exactly where he went," said Anderson. Victoria Clarke, Coordinator of Juan de Fuca Search and Rescue: "A huge amount of credit goes to the community members. I was so impressed when we showed up... They had searched extensively. They had a map and they could pinpoint where they had search[ed]." The teen was back with his family Thursday evening.