Boy Still Missing After Blaze Search Turns Up Nothing; He’S Not Believed Fire Victim

Members of Spokane’s search and rescue team combed fields and woods Wednesday looking for an 11-year-old Valley boy who has been missing since Tuesday morning.

Christopher Glen Wood was last seen watching cartoons in his father’s Newman Lake basement around 8:20 a.m. Tuesday.

Less than an hour later, firefighters were battling a blaze that destroyed the home in the 5700 block of North Blue Skies Road.

The boy never arrived at East Farms Elementary School and fire officials do not believe his remains are in the burned-out home.

Five search dogs were called out to scour the fields surrounding the home Wednesday afternoon. A sixth dog, specially trained to detect human remains, did not find anything in the fire debris Wednesday evening.

Three Spokane County Sheriff’s detectives are investigating the incident as a missing persons case, department spokesman Dave Reagan said.

There is no criminal investigation, he said.

“Under the best circumstances, missing juveniles are hard to track down,” Reagan said. “In this incident it may be much more difficult because Chris may think he’s being blamed for this fire.”

Fire officials are still investigating the cause of the blaze. They only know that it started in the basement, Valley Fire Marshal Paul Chase said.

“At this point we need to interview Chris,” Chase said.

The boy lives with his father, Robert Wood, a former executive with Crown West Realty, and his older sister, who attends East Valley High School.

His parents divorced in 1991, and his mother lives in Colville with his four other siblings.

Wood said his son had been in trouble before for playing with matches at his mother’s home. Wood also said he’d seen signs that Chris had been playing with fire. Neither parent believes he would have burned down the home.

“He’s never done anything like this before,” said his mother, Jolynne Wood.

Although family and friends have been searching the Colville area for Chris, neither parent thinks he would have gotten that far by himself. The boy doesn’t have the necessary survival skills to stay out in the cold overnight, they said.

“If he was out there cold and missing, he would have called someone,” Jolynne Wood said. “I think he’s got someone helping him.”

She said she does not believe her son was kidnapped.

Robert Wood was the last person on Tuesday morning to see Chris, who had eaten breakfast and was ready for school. An avid Cub Scout ready to move up to Boy Scouts, Chris talked with his father about two activity loops he wanted to earn for rollerskating and bicycling.

Friends and family say Chris is a smart child with interests in karate, roller hockey and video games.

“He was very outgoing,” said Darcey Gerimonte, whose son is Chris’ best friend. “He would talk to anybody.”

Chris is described as 4 feet 2 inches tall, 80 pounds, with blond hair. He was wearing blue jeans, tennis shoes and a Dallas Cowboys NFL jacket.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call Crime Check at 456-2233.