Autistic man goes missing for 17 days, found in burnt-out building: Ontario police

An 18-year-old autistic man from Havelock, Ont., was found alive by Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) after having been missing for over two weeks.

OPP said they found Logan Tozer in a burnt-out building in Havelock at around 8:45 a.m. on Wednesday morning.

Police said say officers had searched the building before as it is said to be one of Tozer’s regular spots to visit.

Tozer spoke to Global News on Wednesday morning, saying he made his way back to Havelock, arriving as rain also arrived in the area on Tuesday evening.

“When it was raining and it was nightfall already, when I got back to Havelock, I took shelter in the burnt-down building,” Tozer said.

After being found after 17 days, police say Logan was taken to an area hospital as a precautionary measure.

His mom, Jenn, was ecstatic when she heard the news that her oldest child had been found.

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“Before I got the phone call (from police), someone had messaged me and sent me a screenshot from social media saying he’s been found,” she explained, although it remained unclear whether it was official for a few more minutes.

“About three minutes after that, the phone rang and it was the officer that was in charge of the case, and he says, ‘We found him.’”

She said that a friend gave her a ride to the hospital so she could be reunited with Logan.

“I was in tears. I was hugging everybody, and anyone that came near me,” she said. “I’m thrilled. I’m thrilled he’s safe and home.”

Logan did not have a cell phone with him and was unsure how long he was gone for, and unaware of the massive search effort that had sprung up for him.

An OPP spokesperson said that ground search teams, K-9 Unit, Emergency Response Emergency Response Team and Aviation Services, including a helicopter and remote piloted aircraft system, were involved in the search.

In addition, there were also daily search efforts from community members as well as a Facebook group that had ballooned to 11,000 members.

But Logan had walked more than 35 km from his area, to the Blue Mountain Quarry, hampering search efforts.

“It was like an adventure, a new world, but later on, I just had the feeling that I needed to go home,” he explained. “And that’s when things kind of felt scary.”