Adelaide Hills community bands together after two young boys were reported missing from Bridgewater
It was a horrific seven hours for Rachael Morrow – but to everyone’s relief, her seven-year-old son and his stepbrother were found safe after the Adelaide Hills community came together to search for the missing boys.
Adelaide Hills
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A frantic seven-hour search by Adelaide Hills locals for two missing boys has ended in relief, with their distraught mother forever grateful for the community’s “amazing efforts”.
Rachael Morrow, 41, and her family were moving in to their new home on Wattle Tree Road at Bridgewater when she realised her seven-year-old son Levi and his stepbrother Tyler Spencer, 11, were missing on Saturday evening.
She believed the two “adventurous” and “fun-loving” boys went for a walk about 3.30pm, but when they hadn’t returned as the sun went down, panic began to set in.
Police eventually found the boys inside the family’s old home at Bellevue Heights, where they were all along, staying warm, eating food and playing games.
“It probably got to about 5pm and we just freaked out because we thought they were lost,” Ms Morrow told The Advertiser.
“We panicked and we searched everyone’s backyards (in Bridgewater) and we just freaked out so much, it was crazy.”
A relieved Ms Morrow said the experience was horrific.
“I’ve had a lot of bad experiences in my life. I nearly died from a brain aneurysm (in 2012) and my ex-husband had a heart attack, but none of that compares to losing a child,” she said.
“You think of every possible scenario in your head of what’s happened to them and every possible bad outcome, because you just can’t think positive.”
When Ms Morrow raised the alarm, a large search operation was launched in the Adelaide Hills area, although the boys were still at Bellevue Heights with no way of making contact with their parents.
Police patrols from almost every metro area were called in to help, including from Sturt, Port Adelaide, Elizabeth and Holden Hill.
A police helicopter flew overhead, while STAR Group officers co-ordinated all the officers searching on the ground. A police dog was also on the scene.
About 25 SES volunteers from various Adelaide metro stations arrived to help.
Ms Morrow, who previously lived in Hahndorf, was most touched by the community spirit on display.
“I knew that there were thousands of people out on the streets, there were people everywhere,” she said.
“People I didn’t even know were contacting me saying ‘can I help?’ Everyone was out driving in their cars until midnight.
“I was driving around knocking on people’s doors and they were just taking me in their house and we were in the backyards with torches. They were just so amazing.”
Ms Morrow said all the residents in nearby Mylor left their lights on, so the boys could see if they were in the area.
“If they were out there, they would have been found because of the amount of people around looking for them.”
Wattle Tree Road resident Andrew Herreen said everyone in the area was looking for Levi and Tyler and yelling out their names.
“You could hear and see people with torches and there were cars driving up and down the road all night.
“I’m glad they found them. We’ve got kids the same age and I hope they don’t go missing like that.”
Ms Morrow said: “I’m just so grateful to be back in a community that’s safe”.
“Great people, great neighbours. I won’t be moving out of here in a very long time.”