The mum of a missing teenager said she has been let down by Police Scotland after being left to fund her own search for her son.
Aleksandr Benga, 16, vanished from Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides on November 18.
He was last seen near Lews Castle earlier that morning as temperatures dropped to -9C.
A major police search for the vulnerable teen was stood down after two weeks. He has not been seen since.
His distraught mum Viktorija Benga slammed Police Scotland after the force told her they did not have the resources to continue physical searches.
The 46-year-old told the Record: “When the police told me they were ending the search for Aleksandr, I was heartbroken. I feel really let down.
“They said they simply don’t have the resources to look for my missing child. After two weeks the extra help was deployed elsewhere.
“I’ve been left to search for Aleksandr on my own. No parent should be left in this situation.
“I need to find my child and bring him home.”
The family had moved from Latvia to Scotland 12 years ago when Aleksandr’s dad died from cancer.
Aleksandr had been staying at Hillcress House when he went missing. The crisis centre, run by charity Action For Children, offers short breaks for young people with additional needs.
Viktorija continued: “Aleksandr was being assessed for autism and struggled with his mental health.
“He was happy going on short respite breaks to Hillcress House and was getting loads of support.
“I was due to collect him the day after he disappeared.”
Viktorija has now resorted to funding her own painstaking search for the teenager.
She has been in contact with a crack search and rescue team who have offered to scour the island for a fortnight.
Almost £5,000 has been donated to an online fundraiser set up last night to bring the volunteers and K9 unit to the island.
She added: “The police have told me they will continue to look at CCTV and deal with any reported sightings. It’s not enough. Someone needs to be out looking for him.
“It has been an enormous weight on my shoulders.
“Christmas and New Year have been very tough for me. I need to find my son and bring him home.”
Inspector Euan Cowan said: “Aleksandr Benga, 16, was last seen around 8.45am on Monday, 18 November, 2024 in the Lewis Castle area of Stornoway.
“Despite extensive enquiries and rigorous searches involving a number of local and national specialist police resources, Aleksandr remains a missing person.
“Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time and we remain in regular contact with them.
“Physical searches have concluded, however we will continue to review all available information and act on any new details which are passed to police.
“Please bring any information to our attention by calling 101, quoting incident 0803 of 18 November, 2024.”
A spokesperson for Action for Children said: “We have been supporting Aleksandr’s mum through this extremely difficult and upsetting time, and we hope Aleksandr will be found soon.”
You can donate to the fundraiser here.
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