Reward posted for Xbox runaway boy

BARRIE, Ontario, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- A local Canadian newspaper posted a $10,000 reward for help in locating a 15-year-old boy who fled his Ontario home after losing his Xbox game privileges.

Brandon Crisp left home on a bicycle Oct. 13 after his parents put their foot down on his apparent obsession with the game that often saw him playing until 4 a.m., the Canwest News Service reported.

The Metroland Media Group, which publishes the Barrie Advance newspaper in the boy's hometown, and where his mother works, made the reward offer 10 days after his disappearance.

Wednesday, a woman told police she saw and briefly spoke with the boy twice the day he disappeared and police have focused search efforts on that area, the report said.

His parents told reporters that for the past three years their son has been obsessed with playing an online interactive shooting game called "Call of Duty 4."

Police said their search wasn't just on the ground but also in cyberspace, where there could be clues posted in the gaming community as to his whereabouts, the report said.