A desperate search for a mum believed to have abducted her two children has entered its second week as authorities scour the mountains and forests of the vast wilderness for any sign of the family.
Verity Bolton is said to be hiding ‘off-grid’ in the Rocky Mountains in Canada with her kidnapped children, outdoorsman boyfriend and ailing father, according to authorities.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) say the abduction of the children, Aurora and Joshuah Bolton, was well-planned and long in the works.
Cops have said Verity, the non-custodial parent, was supposedly taking eight-year-old Aurora and 10-year-old Joshuah on a camping trip.
However, detectives investigating the case learned there were never any reservations.
The kids had been scheduled to be returned to their father in suburban Surrey, British Columbia, on July 17. But they never arrived back, and the terrified family called police.
Two days later, Mounties issued an Amber Alert and began the difficult task of tracking the kids down in the Canadian wilderness.
The children’s family issued a statement through the RCMP earlier this week, saying: ‘Our family would like to share with you the love and joy that Aurora and Joshuah bring to our lives every day.’
They are so much more than ‘missing children’, more than a few photos.
Investigators say Verity, her children, Verity’s boyfriend Abraxas Glazov, and her dad, Robert Bolton, are now living ‘off the grid’ in a trailer in the wilderness.
The terrain in that area is some of the most rugged in the world. There have been confirmed sightings of them in the British Columbia interior in Kelowna, Merritt and Kamloops.
Only Verity was seen in the latest sighting, at a Kamloops grocery store, on July 15.
She is reportedly driving a dark blue Dodge Ram 2500 pickup and has been seen towing a horse trailer and travel trailers at various times.
Now, police and family are growing desperately worried about their safety and wellbeing. 53-year-old Glazov is from Nelson in the Rocky Mountains on the Alberta border.
He has connections to the Deadman Valley and VIdette Lake.
Investigators describe him as an outdoorsman with a ‘history of living off the grid for periods of time.’
Family are also worried about Verity’s father, 74-year-old Robert Bolton.
He has health issues, including dementia, and may appear confused and disoriented. She took him away on June 30.
‘The public is going to play a major role in locating Aurora and Joshuah,’ Sgt Lobb said.
‘We need the public to be alive to the information and photos we have shared and to be our eyes and ears and continue to call us with any tips and possible sightings.’
Robert Bolton’s stepson, Jason Denholm, is equally fearful about the health and wellbeing of the elderly man who ‘suffers from dementia.’
He told Glacier Media: ‘[He is] probably very confused and frustrated with the situation he has been put in. Verity has taken his cellphone, drained his bank accounts and taken advantage of his dementia.’
