Search Fund For Aleksandr Benga

SEARCH FUND FOR ALEKSANDR BENGA

Aleksandr Benga, 16 was last seen at 8.45am on Monday 18th November 2024 in the grounds of Lews Castle, Stornoway.

Despite extensive searches by police, coastguard and the local community no sign of Aleksandr has been found. Specialist search teams including mountain rescue volunteers, lifeboat crews and divers from the mainland were called in to help but this has also been unsuccessful.

The search was called off after 2 weeks which has left his mother without any answers and she is heartbroken. Myself (Doreen Culley) and Family friend (Leona Rawlinson) approached Aleksandrs mum Viktoria to offer some help to try and find any outside assistance, with Viktorias blessing we have liaised with Specialist Search Dog, a charity which had assisted in over 70 searches in Scotland alone. In addition to the dogs they also have drone specialists who will also be assisting with the search.

The team are hoping to be on the island in around 2 weeks and we have set up this fund to help with search costs, we need to cover travel expenses for the team as they are coming from various locations in the Uk, Ferry costs, food and accommodation will also be covered whilst searching. The target amount is set at £5000 in the first instances as all costs are approximate at the moment.

During the initial search there were a number of scams where members of the public set up accounts to raise money for the search, Viktoria made a public statement at the time explaining that no money was required because police Scotland were coordinating the search. With this in mind Viktoria has given a number of press interviews today (Sat 18th Jan) stating that this fund is with her permission.

Its been 2 months since Aleksandr was seen, when I spoke to Viktoria yesterday she really had no idea that over here on the mainland people are still thinking about her and hoping her son is found. Every single penny we raise will be used for the search and every single penny matters so please give what you can, I will update this as we have anything to report.