Belarus does not remember such a large search operation, which is currently taking place in the vicinity of the New Dvor, where a ten-year-old boy Maxim Markhaluk disappeared a week ago.
“If you haven’t found him, there is hope that he’s alive,” say the volunteers. Belsat correspondents spent a day with them.
More than 200 employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, police officers and the Investigative Committee, border services, divers, activists of the Red Cross and the Angel search and rescue team are working - on the seventh day, a thousand people are involved here. Day and night, helicopters circle over the agricultural town and nearby forests, about 30 ATVs travel around the impassable swamps, and about 300 more volunteers comb the forest in a chain in the hope of finding at least some trace of the boy. But there are no traces.
“It was like I got into a helicopter and flew away”
Maxim's parents began to sound the alarm on the evening of September 16, when it is likely that the boy went to pick mushrooms. As they said earlier, none of the local children went with him. In the forest not far from the school, the children had their “base,” a hut where they played without the strict supervision of their parents. Not far from the “base” the father found the boy’s bicycle and that’s it... The traces of the fifth grader simply disappear. There were no traces left at the site even of the bicycle on which the boy arrived. During the week the weather was not particularly cooperative and after the rain there was nothing left. The media wrote that the dogs that took the scent lost their scent near the road, but, as it became known later, they were not well trained, and the scent is always lost on an asphalt road.
Rescue workers and volunteers combed the radius of the disappearance site five times, but no concrete traces could be found. Not a single piece of clothing, not a single thing. “It’s as if I arrived, got into a helicopter and flew away,” the volunteers are surprised.
They quit their jobs and come from all over Belarus
“At night we took cars and searched for the tenth time empty houses in nearby villages. In one of them we came across a child's jacket. We immediately contacted the “angels”, as a result it turned out that they knew about her: not him. Every clue that they managed to get was checked a hundred times without success. They spent two hours in Novoselki, where, according to psychics, they “felt” Maxim. Not a rustle, nothing,” says volunteer Kolya from Grodno, who took a few days off from work and went in search of the boy.
“I'm here almost every day. How not to help? I myself have three sons,” says volunteer Vera from Pruzhany. “My husband asked me to stay at home even today, our date is 12 years since we went through the wedding ceremony. I say, I can’t, this child is standing before my eyes.”
“We have to look, there can’t be a single trace. People are there,” says volunteer Sasha, who works as a truck driver. Sasha took a vacation at his own expense and did not go on the flight to help in the search.
Seven ATV riders from Volkovysk “Dirty Wolves” also came to help. “Everything has already been crossed there. We checked where we were today for the second or third time. Two locals took us around. I think this is unrealistic. What you need to look for, yes. But perhaps this is just a matter of chance. Today we drove 70 kilometers, where could this guy go? He could then return to the place where he was if he wanders,” the “dirty wolf” Mieczyslaw shares his impressions.
I will dream about the boy
A group of volunteers, together with “angels” and Red Cross activists, went into the forest 8 kilometers from the village early in the morning. About three hundred people lined up in a long row almost a kilometer long. A raincoat and rubber boots are mandatory equipment. Even if it doesn't rain, wet drops fly from the treetops.
The “Move” command sounds, and people begin to make their way through the thicket of the forest. To avoid getting lost, you need to stay in a column, but leading 300 people is so difficult. Walking through the forest turns into a continuous trail of obstacles. The bush confuses people. While one person takes a few confident steps, the second makes his way through fallen trees, a swamp or through thorny branches of fir trees. After two hours of slowly moving forward, tension rises between people. Everyone is trying to offer something, but the only way out is to get out of the swamp and fir trees and move on. And so on until the evening.
“I understand that everyone is tired. But going in one column is the most reliable and safest option. If, God forbid, we later find out that someone found a boy a hundred meters away that we missed, I will dream about him, this boy,” one of the “angels” commanders cannot stand it.
Literally, every bush, every fallen tree under which a child could hide is inspected. However, the entire land is trampled by the tracks of wild boars, elk, roe deer and bison. At a certain moment, people from the left part of the chain begin to scream, the ground shakes under our feet, powerful shadows flash behind the trees - a herd of bison is running fifty meters from us.
“For 2 days I saw only bison, moose, wild boars, and hares. I didn't see any traces of the wolf. There are just a lot of us here, but if you see bison, you need to stay out of their way and preferably not move so as not to scare them off. And not smiling is a grin, a symbol of aggression in animals. There is only one way out from wild boars and wolves - just climb a tree. Someone shouted “Wolf” today. It is not true. No one could see the wolf. Wolves move actively at night and only in packs. But even a wolf will never touch a person if he has not tasted human flesh. Then they go crazy and can no longer eat anything else. But these are very rare cases, such people are immediately shot by hunters, as they begin to invade the village,” explains volunteer Nikolai.
According to Nikolai, you can safely survive in the forest at this time. This is not a desert where there is no water. Water, for example, collects in mushroom caps. Or, if you find a plastic bottle, you can collect the drops from the leaves. The nights are not frosty now: you won’t freeze. The main thing is to find a dry place to spend the night. It is important not to sleep on your back, preferably on your arm or side, so as not to catch a cold in your kidneys or get pneumonia. It is better not to wander at night, but during the day to look at the sun, navigate by the moss on the trees that grows on the north side, and move forward. In any case, sooner or later you can at least go out onto the path, especially if it is a forest close to the village. Any path will lead somewhere.
“If the beast had attacked, they would have found it. Blood, remains, at least something. If someone had killed, God forbid, they would have found a corpse. If they haven’t found him, then there is hope that he’s alive,” says Nikolai.
After a whole day of searching in the forest, the volunteers returned with nothing. Near the village council, where the headquarters is located, hot food was already waiting for people. Locals and visitors help as much as they can. In the Red Cross tents there are bags of tea, coffee, sweets, instant soups, potatoes, warm socks, medicines and everything that searchers might need. In the evening, local residents return from work and willingly invite visitors to spend the night.
Mrs. Galya, who took us into her house, is shocked by the situation.
“Where could that child have gone? When I go to the swamp for cranberries, I only go with my dog. Once the fog settles, you won’t be able to get out of there. They say he might be hiding somewhere. But how long can you hide? This is a child. There are normal parents there. He is a welcome child. The difference with my older brother is 10 years. My father doesn't drink. Ordinary people, like the rest of us,” explains Galina.
The search does not stop at night. Helicopters with thermal imagers fly constantly, dog handlers walk around with dogs. Thousands of people are searching and thousands are praying for the child to be found.
Locals say that after the incident, Maxim’s mother’s health deteriorated and the woman was admitted to the hospital. Every day, at the place where there is a hut in the forest, a father sits and waits for his son.
2017.09.23 13:01
Pashukovaya aperatsiya. New courtyard, 22nd spring 2017 Vasil Malchanau/ Belsat
Belarus does not remember such a large search operation, which is currently taking place in the vicinity of the New Dvor, where a ten-year-old boy Maxim Markhaluk disappeared a week ago. “If you haven’t found him, there is hope that he’s alive,” say the volunteers. Belsat correspondents spent a day with them.
More than 200 employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, police officers and the Investigative Committee, border services, divers, activists of the Red Cross and the Angel search and rescue team are working - on the seventh day, a thousand people are involved here. Day and night, helicopters circle over the agricultural town and nearby forests, about 30 ATVs travel around the impassable swamps, and about 300 more volunteers comb the forest in a chain in the hope of finding at least some trace of the boy. But there are no traces.
Maxim's supposed bed. New yard. September 21, 2017. Photo - Vasily Molchanov/Belsat “It was like I got into a helicopter and flew away”
Maxim's parents began to sound the alarm on the evening of September 16, when it is likely that the boy went to pick mushrooms. As they said earlier, none of the local children went with him. In the forest not far from the school, the children had their “base,” a hut where they played without the strict supervision of their parents. Not far from the “base” the father found the boy’s bicycle and that’s it... The traces of the fifth grader simply disappear. There were no traces left at the site even of the bicycle on which the boy arrived. During the week the weather was not particularly cooperative and after the rain there was nothing left. The media wrote that the dogs that took the scent lost their scent near the road, but, as it became known later, they were not well trained, and the scent is always lost on an asphalt road.
Search engines near the New Dvor. September 22, 2017. Photo - Vasily Molchanov/Belsat Rescue workers and volunteers combed the radius of the disappearance site five times, but no concrete traces could be found. Not a single piece of clothing, not a single thing. “It’s as if I arrived, got into a helicopter and flew away,” the volunteers are surprised.
They quit their jobs and come from all over Belarus
“At night we took cars and searched for the tenth time empty houses in nearby villages. In one of them we came across a child's jacket. We immediately contacted the “angels”, as a result it turned out that they knew about her: not him. Every clue that they managed to get was checked a hundred times without success. They spent two hours in Novoselki, where, according to psychics, they “felt” Maxim. Not a rustle, nothing,” says volunteer Kolya from Grodno, who took a few days off from work and went in search of the boy.
“I'm here almost every day. How not to help? I myself have three sons,” says volunteer Vera from Pruzhany. “My husband asked me to stay at home even today, our date is 12 years since we went through the wedding ceremony. I say, I can’t, this child is standing before my eyes.”
“We have to look, there can’t be a single trace. People are there,” says volunteer Sasha, who works as a truck driver. Sasha took a vacation at his own expense and did not go on the flight to help in the search.
Volunteers mark the pieces of forest they have passed on the map. New yard. September 21, 2017. Photo - Vasily Molchanov/Belsat Seven ATV riders from Volkovysk “Dirty Wolves” also came to help. “Everything has already been crossed there. We checked where we were today for the second or third time. Two locals took us around. I think this is unrealistic. What you need to look for, yes. But perhaps this is just a matter of chance. Today we drove 70 kilometers, where could this guy go? He could then return to the place where he was if he wanders,” the “dirty wolf” Mieczyslaw shares his impressions.
Helicopter over the search site. September 22, 2017. Photo - Vasily Molchanov/Belsat I will dream about the boy
A group of volunteers, together with “angels” and Red Cross activists, went into the forest 8 kilometers from the village early in the morning. About three hundred people lined up in a long row almost a kilometer long. A raincoat and rubber boots are mandatory equipment. Even if it doesn't rain, wet drops fly from the treetops.
Walking in one column is the most reliable and safest option. Photo - Vasily Molchanov/Belsat The “Move” command sounds, and people begin to make their way through the thicket of the forest. To avoid getting lost, you need to stay in a column, but leading 300 people is so difficult. Walking through the forest turns into a continuous trail of obstacles. The bush confuses people. While one person takes a few confident steps, the second makes his way through fallen trees, a swamp or through thorny branches of fir trees. After two hours of slowly moving forward, tension rises between people. Everyone is trying to offer something, but the only way out is to get out of the swamp and fir trees and move on. And so on until the evening.
“I understand that everyone is tired. But going in one column is the most reliable and safest option. If, God forbid, we later find out that someone found a boy a hundred meters away that we missed, I will dream about him, this boy,” one of the “angels” commanders cannot stand it.
Literally, every bush, every fallen tree under which a child could hide is inspected. However, the entire land is trampled by the tracks of wild boars, elk, roe deer and bison. At a certain moment, people from the left part of the chain begin to scream, the ground shakes under our feet, powerful shadows flash behind the trees - a herd of bison is running fifty meters from us.
Forest. New yard. September 22, 2017. Photo - Vasily Molchanov / Belsat “For 2 days I saw only bison, moose, wild boars, and hares. I didn't see any traces of the wolf. There are just a lot of us here, but if you see bison, you need to stay out of their way and preferably not move so as not to scare them off. And not smiling is a grin, a symbol of aggression in animals. There is only one way out from wild boars and wolves - just climb a tree. Someone shouted “Wolf” today. It is not true. No one could see the wolf. Wolves move actively at night and only in packs. But even a wolf will never touch a person if he has not tasted human flesh. Then they go crazy and can no longer eat anything else. But these are very rare cases, such people are immediately shot by hunters, as they begin to invade the village,” explains volunteer Nikolai.
Search operation. New yard. September 22, 2017. Photo - Vasily Molchanov / Belsat According to Nikolai, you can safely survive in the forest at this time. This is not a desert where there is no water. Water, for example, collects in mushroom caps. Or, if you find a plastic bottle, you can collect the drops from the leaves. The nights are not frosty now: you won’t freeze. The main thing is to find a dry place to spend the night. It is important not to sleep on your back, preferably on your arm or side, so as not to catch a cold in your kidneys or get pneumonia. It is better not to wander at night, but during the day to look at the sun, navigate by the moss on the trees that grows on the north side, and move forward. In any case, sooner or later you can at least go out onto the path, especially if it is a forest close to the village. Any path will lead somewhere.
“If the beast had attacked, they would have found it. Blood, remains, at least something. If someone had killed, God forbid, they would have found a corpse. If they haven’t found him, then there is hope that he’s alive,” says Nikolai.
After a whole day of searching in the forest, the volunteers returned with nothing. Near the village council, where the headquarters is located, hot food was already waiting for people. Locals and visitors help as much as they can. In the Red Cross tents there are bags of tea, coffee, sweets, instant soups, potatoes, warm socks, medicines and everything that searchers might need. In the evening, local residents return from work and willingly invite visitors to spend the night.
Rescuers and volunteers combed the radius around the place of the disappearance five times, but found no traces. Photo - Vasily Molchanov / Belsat Mrs. Galya, who took us into her house, is shocked by the situation.
“Where could that child have gone? When I go to the swamp for cranberries, I only go with my dog. Once the fog settles, you won’t be able to get out of there. They say he might be hiding somewhere. But how long can you hide? This is a child. There are normal parents there. He is a welcome child. The difference with my older brother is 10 years. My father doesn't drink. Ordinary people, like the rest of us,” explains Galina.
The Red Cross is donating dinner. New yard. September 21, 2017. Photo - Vasily Molchanov / Belsat The search does not stop at night. Helicopters with thermal imagers fly constantly, dog handlers walk around with dogs. Thousands of people are searching and thousands are praying for the child to be found.
A raincoat and rubber boots are mandatory equipment for searchers. Photo - Vasily Molchanov/Belsat Locals say that after the incident, Maxim’s mother’s health deteriorated and the woman was admitted to the hospital. Every day, at the place where there is a hut in the forest, a father sits and waits for his son.
Paulina Walisch
- Coordinators of the search operation are asked to gather at the headquarters, which will be located at the stadium near the school behind the village council at 9:00, 12:00, 15:00, 18:00, and to have clothes and boots with them for going into the forest.
In the village of Novy Dvor, a camp of volunteers from Belarus worked all weekend, who came to look for a boy who had disappeared in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. Grief united people and gathered more than two thousand people in one place.
Volunteer camp at the school stadium
The local school stadium became the gathering point for volunteers. A headquarters was set up here and a field kitchen was set up. Every morning, from 7 a.m., visitors began to flock here. Volunteers from the search teams persistently asked everyone:
– Guys, register and sign up for our lists, even if you took part in the search yesterday.
Such formalities are needed not only for reporting. Each person in the notes to the lists indicated his level of training, whether he had a car, a walkie-talkie, or any equipment useful for forest searches. And at the headquarters they were already deciding where to send the person. The operational headquarters, which now leads the search operation and coordinates the actions of all volunteers, was formed on Friday. Meetings are held in the morning, evening and throughout the day in the building of the local village council. The leaders include representatives of the regional police department, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the leadership of the Svisloch region, and representatives of search and rescue teams.
Tasks are given by the headquarters
While the morning headquarters meeting is taking place, volunteers stand in small groups and wait for instructions to be given to them. All volunteers were given free bright vests before heading into the forest. A field kitchen immediately opened. People were poured hot tea, given porridge, and were advised to take sweet, high-calorie bars and water into the forest.
-Are you coming with us to the swamp? Right now, in the swamp? No? Then why are you asking questions? Now we need to act, not talk,- the stocky man answers and quickly leaves, says Sputnik.by.
The rest are also ready for any test. Some even came from Gomel or Mogilev; there were also Russian license plates on cars, but mostly from the Minsk, Grodno and Brest regions. Some took dogs with them, others brought ATVs, which can be used to comb the forest in distant areas in off-road conditions.
“We’re going on a search for the first time.” But we will be able to navigate in the forest. We have such ammunition because we are from an airsoft club,- say the guys in camouflage, with walkie-talkies, compasses and backpacks.
The majority were like them, inexperienced. But at headquarters they reassure: even completely green ones are needed. When forming search groups, all newcomers are given experienced coordinators as commanders who know how to read maps, use a compass and strictly follow the instructions of headquarters.
Volunteers were taught how to comb the forest
A group of women sat on a bench near the school. They have rubber boots and scarves on their heads.
-We are teachers from a neighboring village. About 200 teachers from the region should come. The whole team will go on a search. As they decide at headquarters, let's go,- says the teacher.
Before heading into the forest, the commander of a small detachment receives a task and a map on which the search location is marked. Mostly civilians are sent to comb the forest.
– You should stand in a line at a distance of about two meters from each other. Only I and the leader have a compass. On command, we all rearrange and move forward. There will be more space on the ground, it will work out better there,- a Red Cross employee conducts a five-minute master class for the new team.
As the head of the headquarters from the Grodno Regional Department of Internal Affairs, Alexander Shastailo, explained, volunteers are divided into groups, they are given coordinators, maps indicating the territory that needs to be surveyed. Everyone is working to comb the area.
– The area around the village of Novy Dvor has been cordoned off within a radius of about 10 kilometers. More than two thousand people received the task. Divers and rescuers are examining lakes and swamps adjacent to the village, added Shastaylo.
In the camp they said that they were sent to be on duty on forest roads, checking feeders for animals, gazebos for hunters, abandoned houses and barns. If the group comes across places where they can hide from bad weather, they should check if there are any signs of a person there. You also need to pay attention to tree debris, wells, straw stacks, and road hatches.
In the Pushcha swamps the water is waist-deep
Workers of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park also decided to join the search. They are in cars and know the forest well. They say that it is especially difficult to search in the Pushcha.
– Swamps, deep forests, where human passage is problematic without special means and equipment. There are thickets, windfalls, but mostly swampy terrain,- says a specialist from the national park.
Rescuers from the Svisloch regional department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations are standing nearby. Most of them have the day off. For a week everyone was in the Pushcha searching, but now they joined of their own free will. They are sent to the most difficult areas. Those who are not on the search for the first time are wearing high fishing boots; many have boots and legs wrapped in film above the knees.
– Yesterday we were searching, and everyone got wet up to their waists. And water, and dirt, and rain. The main thing there is not to lose your boots. But it’s only us who are sent to the most difficult areas. Civilians will not be allowed into the swamp, it is too dangerous. There may be waist-deep water there s,” notes one of the rescuers.
Everyone admits that this is the first time such an operation has taken place in Pushcha. Usually, after a day or two, mushroom pickers lost in the Pushcha are found.
Parents went to psychics
The house where the family of the missing boy lives is located 20 meters from the forest. The windows of the house look directly onto the school stadium. And the residential area is separated from the forest by a narrow country road. The family now does not want to communicate with outsiders.
-You know, they have so many interrogations, searches every day, no news. It's better not to go to them. It's hard for us, and it's even harder for them,- explains the director of the local school.
We are wondering if maybe the family was provided with a psychologist?
–For them now, the best psychologists are their neighbors. Help, support,- says the director.
According to her, the mother has now begun to turn to psychics in the hope that at least they will help find at least some clue. The staff of teachers and students live in horror all week. The village began searching on the evening of September 16th.
“No one could have thought that it couldn’t be found at night.” They thought that maybe he had fallen asleep. Now every night it becomes more and more scary for the child. It started raining, and you wake up and feel like these drops are falling on you. And you keep thinking, how is Maxim doing?- the woman shares her experiences.
The school spent the entire week searching. As the director adds, she went to the forest every day until Thursday. Now she has been assigned to do organizational work.
Maxim walked 10 kilometers through the forest
Most search participants are confident that the child is alive. True, many locals are skeptical about the version of the headquarters and law enforcement officers.
“He couldn’t get lost in the forest.” Anyone, but not Maxim,- an older man takes a drag on a cigarette and begins to talk about why the village does not agree with the police version.
-He gets up early in the morning, before the roosters, and goes into the forest. Such a lively guy. Mushrooms pick up and run onto the road to sell,- says a resident of Novy Dvor.
According to him, Maxim spent a lot of time in the forest. He often walked through the forest to the neighboring village of Novoselki, where his own grandmother lives. I've never been confused.
- He is very smart. The hut can be folded in a few minutes. He is also in Teraspol ( it is approximately 5 kilometers from Novy Dvor - Sputnik ) walked back and forth. I don’t know to whom, I told him myself,- says Maxim’s friend Kirill.
The guys believe that the boy could easily have found shelter in the forest. According to them, there are many secret places in the Pushcha. They remembered about some kind of dugout. They had already heard from adults that the boy could be scared by bison. They say that sometimes these animals were seen going out to the outskirts of the village, towards the school fence.
- Maxim is timid. He even stuttered. Yes, he could be scared of the bison, he’s hungry there, and that makes a person go crazy,- the guys reason among themselves.
The main danger is cold and dehydration
– Main version - Maxim got lost in the forest. There are a lot of assumptions, people come up with a lot of things, they say that they saw the child. But they are not confirmed by anything,- noted the head of the Grodno search and rescue team "Center Spas" Alexander Kritsky.
– If meter by meter is closed, and if the headquarters version is not confirmed, other questions will arise. But I know for sure that the police are working in all directions,- adds the head of the search and rescue team "Angel" Sergei Kovgan.
Rescuers told us what the main dangers await a child who spent 9 days in the forest.
– First of all - dehydration, hypothermia, on these days when the search took place, the temperature was warm. But at night it was quite cool. If you don't find shelter, you might freeze,- says Kritsky.
As a result of a large-scale search operation that took place on September 23 and 24, the boy could not be found. The search will continue. Let us remind you that 10-year-old Maxim Markhaluk went into the forest on the evening of September 16, his whereabouts are still unknown. The search for the child has been going on for 10 days; last week he was put on a nationwide wanted list.
No one is going to close the criminal case. It is being dealt with by a special group, which includes 6 investigators and police officers. One of the heads of the USC in the Grodno region told TUT.BY about how the search for the boy is going on, about working with psychics and volunteers, and about the versions that the investigation is considering. And Maxim’s mother, five months after the child’s disappearance, is still waiting for her son to come home.
Maxim's day before his disappearance, investigators say, was "more than usual." The boy walked on the street, met several times with his peers, invited them to the forest to pick mushrooms, and together with a friend he went to the “base”, where he nailed some boards into the hut. The last time his mother saw him was at about 18.15 - the boy was riding along the street near the house on a bicycle.
Everything was as always. And then the child disappeared.
The search for him began immediately, that evening, as soon as his mother called the police. Law enforcement officers - police and investigators - arrived at the scene, and a little later the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the military began combing the forest. Then volunteers got involved.
“The version with the accident was checked immediately”
Two main versions were immediately put forward: an accident happened to the child (he got lost and is in the forest) and a criminal one, says Deputy Head of the Investigative Committee for the Grodno Region, Colonel of Justice Viktor Legan.
According to him, in the first two weeks a rescue operation took place: they were looking for a living child.
The search began from the moment he was reported missing. At first, police officers, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and the military were looking for him. Aviation equipment was also used: a gyroplane (gyrocopter), three helicopters, an airplane and three drones with thermal imagers. Volunteers got involved in the search when the topic had already spread through social networks and the media.
At the same time, a criminal version was being worked out. As part of this, they began to locate people who might have been in the area of the theoretical crime scene. Those who had previously been convicted, those who had been released, those who were mentally ill, and those who came to the attention of the police were checked. For example, those who have committed crimes of a sexual nature. First, those who could have been close to the place where the boy disappeared were checked, and later all those who live not only in the Grodno region, but throughout the entire territory of Belarus.
“More than five thousand people have been checked for involvement in the child’s disappearance”
These are the categories of people that I named earlier, as well as those who simply could have been in the area where the boy disappeared. We did not receive any information that could help us. But work in this direction is still ongoing. Including using a polygraph. Now, as before, we are considering these two main versions. As part of this, we also check private subversions.
- For example?
For example, Maxim became a victim of an accident. For some reason, this version is on everyone’s lips now. But we checked it right away. We inspected all the roads that pass through the forest and identified the owners of all vehicles seen there at different times - both private owners and carrier organizations. We talked with the drivers using a polygraph. Then we examined every car that, according to our information, could have been in the area where the boy disappeared. The cars were checked using forensic techniques to identify traces of biological origin, as well as signs of damage to the car characteristic of an accident.
- Was the version of the involvement of one of the relatives in Maxim’s disappearance considered?
Naturally, at the time of initiating a criminal case, we checked all versions without exception and did not ignore all the people who communicated with the child and theoretically could have been involved in his disappearance. But there was no information that any of the relatives could be involved in Maxim’s disappearance. If we had even the slightest suspicion in this regard, then a criminal case would be initiated on other grounds of crime, and not on the unknown disappearance of a person.
- Why was the case opened only ten days after the boy’s disappearance?
A criminal case regarding the unknown disappearance of a person is initiated 10 days after the application is received, if search activities have not brought any results. This is the law. But in fact, the date the case was opened does not mean anything: investigators, along with police officers, began carrying out operational search activities immediately. It doesn’t matter whether a criminal case has been initiated or not, such events are carried out in any case, and investigators immediately participate in the search.
At what stage is the criminal investigation now? Is the search for the boy still ongoing and does it make sense?
Search activities have not been stopped. Of course, they are not carried out as actively as before, but this is solely due to weather conditions. Police officers, military personnel and operational officers of the criminal investigation department of the Internal Affairs Directorate periodically travel to Novy Dvor. Employees of the Svisloch District Department of Internal Affairs and an investigator who is included in the investigation team searching for Maxim are always on site. Periodically, approximately once a month, meetings are held on site, during which we sum up interim results of what has been done and what still needs to be done. The criminal case is under control in the Central Office of the Investigative Committee, and the progress of the search is under the personal control of the First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs.
Maxim was afraid of animals, swam poorly and did not know his way around
At the same time, they were working on a non-criminal version, says Colonel of Justice Victor Legan.
Taking into account that the boy was lost in the forest, then first of all we checked the swamps and nearby bodies of water with the help of divers.
Of course, we would really like to believe that the boy is alive, but all the experts with whom we spoke say that irreversible processes can occur in the body of a child of his age within seven hours, which in turn can lead to death. That is, theoretically, if in those weather conditions a child lay down under a tree and fell asleep, then there is a high probability that he could develop pneumonia with the corresponding consequences.
We also considered the possibility that he might have been afraid of some animal. Here on the map the habitat of those animals that are found in the nearby forests is shown. For example, elk, bison, lynx. Despite the fact that Maxim spent all his free time near the forest or in the forest, he had problems with orientation. There were times when he got lost, he was also afraid of animals and was a poor swimmer. The boy almost drowned in 2016 - his friends pulled him out of the pond.
It can be assumed that he, in a state of passion after being frightened, could go out to the swamp. In that area there are swamps and swamp areas three or more meters deep. They checked everything they could. Even hard-to-reach areas were explored - as far as our capabilities were sufficient.
- Only police officers, Investigative Committee and Ministry of Emergency Situations worked in the swampy area, or also volunteers?
Volunteers were not allowed there. Only employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the military, and the police worked in the area of the alleged place of the boy’s disappearance. It was important not to miss any details. A professional's view is needed here. I can assure you that throughout the entire distance of his possible route, we explored every centimeter of land.
“We all walked 200 square kilometers together. Probably only with the exception of the bottom of the swamps"
We even exceeded the scientifically proven capabilities of an 11-year-old child: even if he wanted to run away, he would not be able to run such a long distance as was examined.
- Did the volunteers interfere with all this work? How do you evaluate the interaction with search teams?
This is not the first time a person has disappeared when volunteers have been involved in the search. But most of the time we find people in the first few days or weeks. Here it turned out differently. The boy was not found, time passes, people began to come to the Pushcha in groups. The volunteers did not interfere and, naturally, they could not trample on any traces. They did their job well in those squares where the security forces did not work. Truly, we are very grateful to all those people who responded and came to search for Maxim.
“We considered all versions. Probably, except for aliens"
What about psychics? We know that during the search for Maxim Markhaluk they offered their help and talked about places where they could look for the boy. Were their versions taken into account?
We worked on many private versions. And, of course, they listened to psychics. We have accumulated three volumes of information that was shared by concerned citizens (one volume is approximately 250 sheets. - Note TUT.BY).
We responded to every such message. For example, we receive information that a certain lady persistently calls Maxim’s family and says that she received information from a psychic and knows where the boy is. We find a psychic. She says she didn't tell anyone anything. Yes, I talked to the lady, but I only invited my parents, if they were interested, to talk to her. We find the lady. We ask where the information comes from. She replies that she had an appointment with a psychic on personal issues and at the same time asked about Maxim. “And by the way the psychic rolled her eyes, I decided that she knew something,” says the woman. And there were many similar calls. We have worked on each of them and will continue to work if we receive any new information. Psychics definitely don’t harm us, but if they helped - and I personally don’t know of a single case where a clairvoyant helped solve a crime - they would have been working for us a long time ago.
- What were the most exotic versions that investigators had to check?
The most exotic ones have already been covered in the media. Probably with the exception of aliens.
For example, there was a version that the boy was “disassembled for organs” somewhere in Lodz. We interacted with our Polish colleagues on it. We sent them an international order, and the local police examined those institutions where Maxim could allegedly be located. They talked to doctors. The version has not been confirmed. Just like the story about the boy in the Polish driver’s truck. We also worked closely with Polish law enforcement officers on this issue.
In any case, technical means of control did not record the fact of crossing the border.
We checked two German citizens who were hunting in Belovezhskaya Pushcha on our territory at that time. We sent an international order to our German colleagues, and they talked with the hunters.
Belarusian tactics and methods of conducting operational search and investigative measures to find missing persons are among the most advanced in Europe, investigators say. “If someone goes missing there, they look for him in the territory of only one country, but we put our missing people on the interstate wanted list.”
“I don’t believe in any of the versions”
Now Novy Dvor, shrouded in fog and snow, lives its quiet and measured life. The village, where volunteers and searchers from all over Belarus gathered in September, has returned to its usual way of life. True, local residents are still discussing what happened and expressing a variety of versions. But the mother of the missing boy is not inclined towards any of them: “I don’t want to believe in any of the versions and am waiting for my son to come home.”
Valentina is silent for a long time. We are standing on the porch of the house. A woman is getting ready for work. She, as before, works at a local school as a technician and came home for lunch.
What can I tell you? - the woman finally asks. - That the investigation was poorly conducted, so the child has not yet been found? No, I can’t say that - the investigators worked and are working. I am not an expert to evaluate their activities. And the search was carefully organized. I am very grateful to the volunteers who were not only in the forest all that time, but also came to me, supported me, and talked.
I think nothing. I don't believe in any of the versions. There were so many of them, and so many things they came up with! By the way, Maxim didn’t know the forest well, as many here said. So, just this edge,” Mom points towards the forest, which comes close to the two-story houses. - I just believe that he will return. He will walk along this road out of the forest as if nothing had happened. You know, sometimes I leave the house, look for a long time at the stadium where he played in the summer, at the street, at the yard, and I miss him very much. I wait for him every day. For all these experiences, my father (husband - approx. TUT.BY) and I have been on medication all this time.
Valentina speaks quietly and looks tired. Out of some confusion I ask:
Maybe you should go somewhere, change your surroundings...
How will I leave? What if the child comes back?..
Since the disappearance of Maxim Markhaluk, a ten-year-old resident of A.G. New yard of the Svisloch district of the Grodno region - 20 days have already passed. Various versions of what happened are still appearing in the media, but there is still no information about his whereabouts! That is why this case interested our research organization. As practice shows, cases in which there are virtually no clues or evidence can be solved only using unconventional, from the point of view of orthodox science, methods.
First, let's look at the overall picture of the incident.
On Saturday, September 16, 2017, at about 19.00, Maxim gets on his bike and heads to the “base”. This is what local boys call a hut in the forest, located about 300 meters from the agricultural town.
The boy's mother, having prepared dinner, begins to call her son home, but does not find him anywhere. By calling his school friends, she finds out where he went. It also turns out that before leaving, Maxim invited his comrades to pick mushrooms, but they refused. This fact automatically excludes the version of a pre-planned escape.
Immediately the parents run into the forest and find their son’s bicycle neatly standing on the step near the hut, but the boy himself is nowhere to be found. Two hours later, the relatives contact the police. Neighbors, acquaintances and fellow villagers immediately join the search, and later - employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Starting the next day, volunteers from all over the republic come to the agricultural town to participate in search activities, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and even riot police are involved, divers and specialists with dogs are working. The territory is inspected from the air by helicopters with thermal imagers on board and unmanned aircraft. The result is negative!
Main versions: escape or kidnapping.
In turn, we are starting to monitor the media and social networks for information that could help solve this case. An important fact is revealed: according to the director of a local school, when service dogs were working in the forest, one of them took the scent and confidently ran along a dirt road, then went out onto the asphalt, spun around and lost its scent.
It should be understood that if the guy had simply left this place on a ride, the driver who picked him up would have long ago reported this to law enforcement agencies, but this did not happen. The kidnapping version is also very controversial. Kidnapping a child is a serious crime that is carefully prepared for. It is difficult to imagine that everything could have happened spontaneously, although such a possibility remains.
On October 1, 2017, in the comments to one of the thematic news posted in the group of the Grodno search and rescue team “CentrSpas” on the social network VKontakte, a video recording of a regressive hypnosis session appeared, as a result of which accurate and very plausible information was obtained explaining what happened. Here is the video:
The group administrators considered the information received “nonsense” and deleted it. We began to analyze it. Special attention should be paid to the fact that we are not talking about some fantasies of psychics, but about information obtained through the use of techniques for connecting a person’s consciousness to the so-called. information field. In the USSR, similar techniques were taught to officers of closed military units to obtain intelligence data, and the term “information field” was used by the military as part of the educational process. Unfortunately, an ordinary person who does not have the appropriate information training knows nothing about this.
Let's consider the picture that emerges from the analysis of the above-mentioned video recording.
Conditional picture of the incident
On the evening of September 16, 2017, Maxim Markhaluk gets bored and goes on a bicycle towards the forest. For a reason known only to him, he leaves the vehicle near the hut and continues to walk along the road. It’s already dark outside, and the guy’s clothes may not have reflective elements.
Outside the agricultural town, a dark-colored car is moving at high speed. Behind the wheel is a young guy named Leonid (dark hair, short haircut, large bald patches in front). On the right in the passenger seat is also a young guy named Kirill (bald or with a cropped head, a jacket with a hood, presumably brown), apparently lives in Grodno. There is a fresh air freshener in the shape of a (painted) green apple hanging in the cabin.
The driver does not notice a little boy walking along the side of the road and causes a collision, in the area of which there should be traces of blood, and nearby there is a reinforced concrete pillar with a lantern shining. Very frightened, the guys load Maxim, who is unconscious, into the back seat of the car and head to the hospital.
Having passed a populated area (which one is not known), the guys check the pulse and realize that Maxim is no longer there. Nearby is a field. The body is taken to a forest plantation and covered with a little earth. In addition to the field, there are pillars located not far from this place (no details). Searchers walked near the body. During the hypnosis session, information was leaked that the location of the body was 30 kilometers from a populated area (meaning the agricultural town of Novy Dvor), but there is reason to believe that this information is unreliable.
Please note that the information was not obtained during a regression hypnosis session by us, so we cannot be 100% sure of its reliability. At the same time, we do not have the moral right to ignore the information received, as representatives of search and rescue groups do.
- Searchers need to focus not on finding a living person, but on finding the possible burial place of his body. Despite moral standards, ignoring this version means playing for the audience, and not engaging in a real search.
- The search area can be narrowed to roadside areas (for specialists with dogs) and forests no more than 30 meters deep, thereby expanding the geography of the search. Pay special attention to the areas on the map highlighted in red, and first of all - on the right side of the road.
P.S. In parallel with working out the version of the accident, we began working with individual psychics. Analysis of the information received showed some differences with the above version, but at the same time there were very precise details that coincided with it. According to psychics, one of whom gave very accurate information in the case of Sonya Chetvertnova, a five-year-old girl from Kalach on Don (Russia), who disappeared the day before Maxim and then was killed, his underage “comrades” with parallel cover-up were involved in the disappearance of our guy one of the adults. By the way, one of Maxim’s friends’ name is Kirill, as a passenger in the car according to regressive hypnosis. Work in this direction continues...