Rhéal Séguin

Mystery shrouds the disappearance of 16-year-old Alexandre Morin, an aspiring cyclist who went out jogging Wednesday evening in a snowstorm and never returned home.

The teenager's father, Jean-Pierre Morin, says his son was well-disciplined and would not leave for the night without giving his whereabouts.

"I'm expecting the worst. You can't lose hope until you find the body. But I don't understand. I have no explanations. I can't see him going somewhere and not call home," a distressed Mr. Morin said yesterday.

The parents reported their son's disappearance to police at about 11 p.m. Wednesday and immediately gathered friends to search the neighbourhood in Sillery, a quiet, middle-class borough of Quebec City.

The teenager, dressed only in a dark nylon jogging suit, went for his daily run at about 4 p.m. as part of his regular training program. He was preparing to leave for Europe in three weeks to compete in a cycling event.

Police immediately began to search the trails he normally used. Search dogs were brought in, friends contacted, but to no avail.

That evening, a major winter storm had just hit the city, leaving more than 40 centimetres of snow on the ground that made it nearly impossible to conduct an efficient search. Police, neighbours and friends searched all night in the blowing snow with shovels and poles and continued their efforts throughout yesterday.

"We are looking at all possibilities," said Constable Jean-Sébastien Roy, a Quebec City police spokesman. "He may have gone to a friend's place and didn't tell anyone. Or maybe the boy had a health problem or was hit by a vehicle and was buried in the snow. Everything is possible."

The police officer could not confirm the accuracy of one report saying that someone had seen a teenager fitting Mr. Morin's description at around 6 p.m. "We received about 10 calls from people who believe they saw the boy yesterday [Wednesday] evening. Each bit of information is being investigated," Constable Roy said. "But the snowstorm certainly hampered our search."

Friends and family said they were concerned that there was no clue as to the youth's whereabouts.

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