- 19 February 2018, 09:42
- 12627
Maxim Markhalyuk September 16, 2017. Now the search for the boy is still ongoing, although not by as many people as in September. 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. Last time Mom saw him 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 occurred with the child (he got lost and is in the forest) and a criminal one, - says the 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 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 now been checked for involvement in the disappearance of the child.”
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.
Here, too, no important information was obtained.
- 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 is this only ten days after the boy disappeared?
- A criminal case on the fact of the unknown disappearance of a person is initiated 10 days after the receipt of the application, 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.
- Did only police officers, Investigative Committee and Ministry of Emergency Situations work 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 shared by concerned citizens(one volume - approximately 250 sheets. - Note TUT.BY).
“Dozens of people wrote and called who ‘consulted with the cosmos’, who ‘knew exactly the whereabouts of the child’”
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.
“Moreover, initially we interacted with Polish border guards and we can say with confidence: the boy did not leave the territory of Belarus”
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 Yes, but they also came to me, supported me, and talked.
-Do you have anyone to talk to now?
- I have almost no friends. Of course, we discuss Maxim’s disappearance with his relatives. They sympathize, but each of them has their own life. Therefore, we are often left alone with my husband. It is especially difficult to be at home, where everything reminds you of your son, but he is not there.
Valentina says that she knows and even read comments in thematic groups looking for a boy in social networks. He says that some of the remarks make it offensive when they, the parents, begin to be blamed for the disappearance of the child.
-If only they knew how we are going through...
- At some point, psychics joined the search. Did they help you?
- Yes, many clairvoyants came. But have you heard their versions?
“According to them, Maxim has long been buried, killed, buried in the forest, or he was taken somewhere in a car. I don’t even want to hear these versions.”
There were a lot of psychics in the first days after Maxim disappeared, but now none of them come to us.
- What do you think about the disappearance of your son? Which version is better for you?
- I don’t think anything. 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 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. From all these experiences my father and I(husband - Note TUT.BY) I've 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 can I leave? What if the child comes back?..
24.09.2017 - 19:43
News of Belarus. When it comes to the safety of everyone, it is understandable why people stand up to protect the world. The story in the village of Novy Dvor shows what hope and humanity are when the misfortune seems to be someone else’s, reported in the “Week” program on STV.
Belarusians from all over the country leave their affairs and work and go to the Svisloch region to join the search teams. The total number of volunteers is more than 2000. There has never been anything like this in the country. They are looking for 10-year-old Maxim. The boy disappeared on September 16.
In this temple for the last week all the candles have been burning for the health of Maxim. The village is praying: baby, find yourself! And the bells are rung not only to gather parishioners for the service.
Anatoly Kolyada, rector of the parish of the Church of the Holy Archangel Michael of God:
Not long ago, Maxim’s neighbors turned up and asked to ring the bells. Maybe so he could hear and find his way.
This photograph of Maxim has already spread throughout the country. It's his birthday in 2 weeks. And in your own home there is no time to prepare for the holiday. Parents are shown another photo from the search site. But they shake their heads: no, this vest on the grass is not Maxima.
Leonid Sukach, resident of the village of Novy Dvor:
A normal boy, from a good family. At about 7 o'clock he went here, behind the stadium in the booth. And the mother, it seems, went there later. She came and said: “There’s nothing there, only a bicycle is standing there, some kind of cat is there and it’s not there.”
Alla Goncharevich, director of Novodvorskaya secondary school:
It was Saturday. Mom called me at half past nine. I immediately got ready, asked for literally 3 minutes what happened, and immediately ran there. It's like a personal tragedy for everyone.
A story where there are no traces and no clues, and there is no little boy either, has become the pain of the whole country. And now, first near the village council, and then at the school stadium, there are a lot of volunteers. Cars with numbers of the entire line of regions. Volunteers travel individually, from organizations and businesses, or as entire families. Things can wait. Now they are ready to measure the entire Belovezhskaya Pushcha with steps and wheel rotations.
Sergey Frantsevich, volunteer (Pruzhany):
I have a schedule that my work allows me to do. If you have free time to help, why not help find a child. This is a child. I have a daughter myself.
The week of searching turned out to be rainy. Volunteers had to comb the forests in Spartan conditions.
Alexander Kirilov, volunteer (Volkovysk):
Here is the overalls, it’s really wet, almost to the waist. All the shoes that came here look approximately like this - we have already unscrewed them - water is actually flowing from them.
There is no way to do this without heavy artillery.
In addition to volunteers, from the first day, the police, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and border guards are looking for the child in conjunction with foresters. Conscripts and special forces are combing the forests. Drones, gyroplanes and helicopters are taking to the skies. On board are scientists with thermal imagers and squad members special purpose Ministry of Emergency Situations with climbing equipment. If anything happens, specialists are ready to land anywhere in the forest. At the same time, swamps and reservoirs are being mined. Divers came from Grodno and Minsk.
Divers say that the lake is clearly visible, visibility at a depth of up to 5 meters. But the work is carried out not only under water, but also on the surface - on a boat.
The last time Maxim was seen was near the favorite place of local children. A hut in the forest - literally right next to the village. For the first 3 days, the child’s father sat on a chair around the clock and waited for his son to return to this place.
Here, next to the hut, Maxim’s bicycle and a basket of mushrooms were found. Why the child left them and went into the forest himself, one can only guess. The main version that the police are considering is that the boy was frightened by wild animals.
During the week of searching, the number of people in uniform and volunteers grew into the thousands. Local residents offered help with accommodation for the night. The meals were provided by the Red Cross.
Dmitry Usakov, Head of the Emergency Response Department emergency situations and the search for the Belarusian Red Cross Society:
In our part, we carry out the task as a search - our teams are trained to conduct search activities.
If initially the main version of Maxim’s disappearance was “lost in the forest,” now the police do not rule out a criminal trail, the details are not made public.
Alexander Shastaylo, first deputy head of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Grodno Regional Executive Committee:
We try to check as much as possible the territory, not only forest, but also open areas of the terrain.
Well, could there be some kind of criminal version, that the boy was kidnapped or he ran away?
Alexander Shastaylo:
Employees of the internal affairs bodies are working in this direction.
Even now, on the 9th day, the search does not stop. This is where the national trait of Belarusians emerged - to be together in joy and sorrow. They will search for Maxim Markhaluk until the last minute. After all, life tells us: there are always chances.
This is a live video of a special operation in the Mogilev region. The search team was looking for traces of 70-year-old Dmitry Nikitenko. The police, rescuers, relatives, and neighbors wandered through the forest for 5 days in the hope of finding the lost man. Now he is in intensive care, but alive.
Galina Kovaleva, daughter of Dmitry Nikitenko:
The stress is enormous. It seemed like a bad dream that would never end. But a lot of people were nearby - friends, colleagues, neighbors. The same police, the Ministry of Emergency Situations - everyone was nearby.
The main version of the disappearance of Maxim Markhaluk has been announced
News of Belarus. The criminal trail of missing children in Belarus is, fortunately, rare, as reported in the “Week” program on STV.
The search for Maxim Markhalyuk also has the “relevant” status. This story excited the whole country in 2017. The boy disappeared in a village on the edge of Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
The indifference of the volunteers who came from different parts of the republic to the scene of the emergency exposed the mental traits of the “not ordinary” Belarusians.
Christina Kruk, coordinator of the Angel search and rescue team:
This was the largest search everas for a coordinatorand the heaviest.There were about 2,000 volunteers who needed to be coordinated, assigned tasks correctly, and for these tasks to be completed.
But, alas, the search did not give any results.
Dmitry Kryukov,Head of the Department of the Main Directorate of Criminal Investigation of the Criminal Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus:
Casestillnot beforeTois growingAnd
activeevents are taking place.ABOUTbottom of the priority versions –that after all, he got lost in the forest.
- Read more
On the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, the VG journalist went on a night search for the missing Maxim Markhaluk and saw the activities of the search teams from the inside.
The boy took refuge in an old house
For four days now, the whole country has been following the search for 11-year-old Maxim, who got lost in Belovezhskaya Pushcha on Saturday, September 16. The misfortune of a rural family consolidated the entire Belarusian society - perhaps, in the history of a sovereign country, this is the first time when people drop everything they are doing and rush into the forest as volunteers, and those who cannot, pray for Maxim. They even created a petition on the Internet to oblige the media to make the main news about missing people.
During the days of searching, the boy’s fate became surrounded by rumors and even legends. People retell them in search engine groups. Rescuers check everything, even the most crazy ideas. A grandmother from a neighboring village went to pick mushrooms and heard crying. Another woman witch said that the child was thirsty, he was alive, but his legs hurt. A psychic from abroad, whom people contacted via the Internet, said that the boy would be found on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday. On Wednesday morning, another version appeared from a Bulgarian clairvoyant that the boy found refuge in an old house under a roof, next to a road, many dogs and other animals. There is a large puddle of water nearby, Maxim is scared and his arm hurts.
There is no headquarters, no unity, and the village council is closed
A Tuesday afternoon search involving police, foresters and volunteers was unsuccessful. But search and rescue teams do not give up and invite volunteers for night searches. In the group of the search and rescue team “TsentrSpas” we write that we are leaving Grodno and are ready to take two more people with us. Not even five minutes pass when a girl wants to go on a search with us and asks us to wait until she picks up the children from training. We agree to pick her up at Olshanka. 30-year-old Zhanna is a mother of two children. When asked why she is going to the forest for the night, she briefly answers: “My son is 9 years old.” Everything becomes clear.
The 110-kilometer road to Novy Dvor takes almost two hours. Participation in the search is a first for us, but despite our inexperience, we are sure that we will be useful. On the way, we imagine that we will now arrive at the village council, where there will be a search headquarters and clearly organized work, that in a few minutes we will be divided into groups and sent on a search. But the picture looks different...
There is no headquarters, no premises, no lighting. There is no single leader to whom information from the police, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the forestry department, schoolchildren and volunteers would flow. The feeling is that everyone who is looking for Maxim is working separately and is not trying to interact with anyone. The village hall is locked, and people are standing in groups in the parking lot. There are a lot of people here dressed in camouflage. The volunteers, on average, look to be about 30. The men smoke cigarettes one after another, drink energy drinks and remain silent. The girls are also silent. Cars drive up to the village council, tired people get out and shrug their shoulders guiltily - nothing.
Other volunteers argue with the search party commanders and rush into the forest. Local residents, some already drunk, suggest going there. The conversation takes place in high tones. The men are not embarrassed by the presence of girls and swear loudly - these days of searching have greatly exhausted people, and their nerves are simply at the limit. We change clothes and talk about our readiness to help.
Guys, let’s wait for our group from the swamp and then we’ll decide,” Christina reassures everyone. During the day, information appeared that footprints had been found near the swamp. The search engines rushed to the place with a thermal imager, but found nothing. Then, in their minibus equipped for searches, the guys from the “Angel” squad illuminated the forest with strong spotlights and tried to identify themselves with noise in the hope that the child would see the light or hear the sound and follow it.
Knock on any house - you will be accepted for the night
We wait impatiently, but then the bus pulls into the village council and exhausted people fall out of the car. It seems that they have not slept for several nights, and spend all this time on their feet. But the search again brought nothing. Commander Sergei Kovgan came out to the volunteers and said that all the rumors and leads were not justified. The commander admits that there are not enough coordinators for the search who could direct people.
“You have nothing to do in the forest at night, you’ll just get lost, and in the morning we’ll have to look for you,” explains Sergei. - Whoever stays overnight and continues the search in the morning should go and rest. Sleep in cars or knock on any house, they will take you in for the night. Those who have work tomorrow and are ready to work now will receive assignments.
We are given fragments of a map of the area, they name the villages and ask us to check all the abandoned buildings, stacks of straw, in short, all those places where the boy could have taken refuge at night.
The high beam of the car picks out a dirt road along which field mice and foxes run across. The forest is getting thicker. The night, although starry, is dark, and, as luck would have it, there is no moon.
The child was found, but lost again?
The first village of Shubichi does not look abandoned: the lights are on in the houses, there are lanterns on the street that are visible from afar. We walk through the village and find nothing. We drive further to the village of Bolshaya Kolonaya, turn off the engine and turn off the headlights. The houses are plunged into darkness.
A flashlight of light catches an abandoned house. The walls had rotted and the roof had fallen to the ground - not a bad place to spend the night! We climb inside, we see straw, but there is no one else. And why would the boy hide if he went to the village. Here, if you knock on any house, they will immediately help you, because the whole country is intensely following the search and waiting for news.
Our night searches in Stasyutichy and Zalesnaya are also fruitless. There is no boy along the stream flowing from Belovezhskaya Pushcha: we assumed that the child should stick to the water, this is his chance of salvation...
We call the “Angel” number 7733, report the results and go to Grodno. On the way home, information appears that the child has been found. We dial the phone number, the woman says that the school said that the child went out to some village at 21.40. This news gives hope until the morning, but on Wednesday neither the police nor the search engines found Maxim. It seems that during these four days the whole village went crazy with grief.
The search for Maxim continues. In search teams, volunteers write about their intentions to come again. Drivers in cars talk about free seats and urge you to join. There is a feeling that this search will never end... They pray for Maxim and believe that they will find him alive.
68 days have passed since contact with Maxim Markhaluk disappeared. The boy disappeared in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. No one has seen him since that moment. People often disappear. But this story still keeps the whole country in suspense. Over 2,000 people took part in the large-scale search and rescue operation. They are still looking for the boy. Searches are conducted not only by local specialists, but also by ordinary people on the Internet. When asked for “Maxim”, among the popular Google suggestions, “Markhalyuk” comes up.
The boy is now being sought by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Investigative Committee, Republican and Grodno. But the “angels” did not take any orientation.
- Yes, in general, I have nothing to tell you. There is nothing new in this story. Everything is at the same stage as it was, - said the site commander of the search and rescue squad "Angel" Sergei Kovgan. - We carried out search activities in the area; volunteers are no longer needed there now. We checked the entire area, the entire area with reserves, then we double-checked it and did not find the boy there. Other versions are now being considered, including criminal ones.
- We do not keep in touch with relatives. I don’t want to traumatize them once again with questions. And they won’t say anything, because they are very tired of excessive attention from both journalists and others. They refuse to give any comments and do not want to do so.
Let us remind you that this story was published in October.
- The so-called psychics did not work with us. I didn't talk to them. Are they scammers or just sick people?, says Sergei Kovgan.
According to police lieutenant colonel Georgy Yevchar, deputy head of the department, head of the department for interaction with electronic media of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus, there were ten psychics in total, mainly from Belarus.
The fact that there is no news yet is indicated by official representative of the IC department for the Grodno region Sergei Shershenevich.
- Nothing has changed, everything remains in the same place. There are no new versions. Well, what new versions could there be in connection with this? If there were any clues, we, of course, would have taken the initiative to talk about it a long time ago. 
For Alla Goncharevich, school director, where Maxim’s mother works, this topic is unpleasant and the very mention of the name of the missing boy makes me nervous:
- An investigation is underway. I have no other comments on this matter. I've already said everything I could. I just don't have the right to do this.
Let us remind you that Maxim Markhalyuk from the agricultural town of Novy Dvor, who during this time turned 11 years old, . Hundreds of people for one of the most massive rescue operations. His "angels", special forces, internal troops, soldiers, dog handlers, police department employees and even psychics. More than 2,000 people were looking for the boy.
Maxim’s friends said that he called them to pick mushrooms. But they didn’t want to, and he went into the Pushcha alone. Maxim’s bicycle was found near the hut where the boys were playing.
On September 26, upon the disappearance of a boy under paragraph 2 of Article 167 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Belarus “Disappearance of a person, if within ten days from the date of filing the application, it is not possible to establish the whereabouts of the person through operational search activities carried out during this period.”
Soon information appeared that Maxim might be in Poland. A local truck driver said that on the 20th of September, a boy of about ten climbed into the sleeping compartment of his truck. He did not answer his questions, and at one of the stops the child ran away. Later it turned out that the boy did not look like Maxim. This
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, reports TUT.by.
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 the deputy head of the Investigative Committee for the Grodno region, Colonel of Justice Victor 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 now been checked for involvement in the disappearance of the child.”
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.
Here, too, no important information was obtained.
- 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 receipt of the application, 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.
Brown indicates the squares where police officers, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the military worked, yellow indicates volunteers. Photo: Katerina Gordeeva, TUT.BY
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 - approximately 250 sheets - Note TUT.BY).
“Dozens of people wrote and called who ‘consulted with the cosmos’, who ‘knew exactly the whereabouts of the child’”
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 Polish driver. We also worked closely with Polish law enforcement officers on this issue.
“Moreover, initially we interacted with Polish border guards and we can say with confidence: the boy did not leave the territory of Belarus”
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.
- Do you have anyone to talk to now?
I have almost no friends. Of course, we discuss Maxim’s disappearance with his relatives. They sympathize, but each of them has their own life. Therefore, we are often left alone with my husband. It is especially difficult to be at home, where everything reminds you of your son, but he is not there.
Valentina says that she knows and even read comments in thematic groups on searching for a boy on social networks. He says that some of the remarks make it offensive when they, the parents, begin to be blamed for the disappearance of the child.
If they knew how we are going through...
- At some point, psychics joined the search. Did they help you?
Yes, many clairvoyants came. But have you heard their versions?
“According to them, Maxim has long been buried, killed, buried in the forest, or he was taken somewhere in a car. I don’t even want to hear these versions.”
There were a lot of psychics in the first days after Maxim disappeared, but now none of them come to us.
- What do you think about the disappearance of your son? Which version is better for you?
I don't think anything. 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 the situation...
How will I leave? What if the child comes back?..
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