‘We love you and we’re not mad’: B.C. teen who walked out after family fight urged to come home

UPDATE: Jan. 9, 2021. 

Sadly, Andre was found deceased in Goldstream Provincial Park. Foul play is not suspected.

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The parents of a B.C. teen who has been missing for a week are desperate for him to come home.

“It’s been seven days now. Tonight, five minutes to seven, it’s going to be a week that he left. We’re asking the community still for help,” Glenn Courtemanche told Global News Friday.

His 16-year-old son, Andre, was last seen at 7 p.m. on Jan. 1 in the 2900-block of Cressida Crescent in Langford.

Courtemanche said the boy left home after a family argument.

“I said that we would probably take his video games away and then Andre, he went downstairs and came back a while later and then my wife tried to stop him from leaving,” he said. “The last thing he said was, ‘If I don’t have my video games, I don’t have anything’ and we haven’t seen him since Friday.”

Hundreds of people have joined in the search, including volunteers and search and rescue groups, and have created a Facebook page to organize their efforts.

The Search and Recovery Dog Association of Victoria joined the search Friday and director Richard Pattee said they hope the dogs can use their superior sense of smell to help find the teen.

“We’re just going to start slowly at the beginning here, checking any obvious places and extending out from there,” Pattee told Global News.

“Right now, we only know that he took a right at the train tracks.”

1:34 What happens when a person goes missing in B.C.?

Andre is described as Caucasian, approximately five feet and 10 inches tall, 185 pounds, with six- to seven-inch-long light brown hair and a light neckbeard.

He was last seen wearing a blue/black plaid fleece coat, blue jogging pants, brown hiking boots and a headlamp.

“We have hope he’s still out there but with a week being passed, time is of the essence,” his mother, Denise, said Friday.

They are concerned because there is dense growth in the area and the river is running high and fast, so authorities are asking everyone to check any campers or outbuildings in case Andre is hiding there.

His parents said they also hope homeowners and business owners can check surveillance footage for any sightings.

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His mom said he has left before for a few hours at a time but always come back.

Andre suffers from depression and anxiety, she added, and she has been trying to get him help for a while.

“I’ve had a mirage of different feelings going through me,” she said. “Not only sadness and grief and despair but also a bit of anger. Anger that it has taken this long. Anger that it has taken a year and nine months to try and get help for my son and it feels like it’s been nothing but a Band-Aid.

For now, Andre’s parents are just hoping he will come home to them.

“I hope Andre, if you hear this, to please come home,” Glenn said. “We love you and we’re not mad.”

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Andre Courtemanche is urged to contact their local police or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).