Frantic search for missing boy continues as mother thinks he’s been abducted

‘Yesterday, I thought he was lost, but today I believe he was abducted’

Canadian authorities are searching for a 10-year-old boy who disappeared on Monday afternoon and hasn’t been seen or heard from since.

The Montreal Gazette reports that Ariel Jeffrey Kouakou knocked on a friend’s door on Monday afternoon, at a home in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough of Montreal. Neighbors said they saw him knocking at around 12:15 p.m., but his friend, who wasn’t home at the time, said he didn’t see Ariel that day.

His family continues to search the area for any signs of the boy, while authorities and firefighters search nearby rivers and woods.

Police lifted the AMBER Alert on Ariel on Tuesday, after a witness came forward and said she thought she saw the little boy at around 2 p.m. on Monday. The witness stated she may have spoken to him at the waterfront park, Parc des Bateliers, located on the Rivière des Prairies. Ariel’s mother now thinks he’s been abducted.

“Yesterday, I thought he was lost, but today I believe he was abducted,” Ariel’s mother, Akouena Noëlla Bibie, said. “He knew the way to his friend’s house and it was only a few blocks away.”

Ariel is black male who stands 4-foot-7 inches tall and weighs around 90 pounds. He was last seen wearing grey pants, yellow shoes, and a black coat with a hood.

Bible said her son is a shy boy who’s emotionally attached to his family. She said he’s a happy kid who wouldn’t have any reason to run away.

“Ariel, if you hear me, please come home,” his father, Kouadio Kouakou, pleaded. “We miss you.”

Anyone with any information on Ariel’s whereabouts is urged to contact 911. Check back with CrimeOnline as additional details become available.

[Feature Photo: Ariel Jeffrey Kouakou /Handout]