Search for missing Stornoway teen, 16, enters third month as mum says she 'won't stop' looking for him

The mum of a teenager who has been missing for two months has said she “won’t stop” searching for him.

Aleksandr Benga was last seen at around 8.45am on Monday, November 18, near the water wheel on the grounds of Lewis Castle in Stornoway.

The 16-year-old, who was suffering with his mental health, has not been seen since despite extensive searches involving police and the Coastguard.

Viktoria Benga has praised the efforts of those involved in the search so far but says she “can’t give up” on her son.

Following a local fundraising appeal, Specialist Search Dog, a charity which had assisted in over 70 searches in Scotland, will be joining the search of the island.

Aleksandr Benga has been missing for two months STV News

Aleksandr is known to love the outdoors and would spend hours walking around the grounds of Lewis Castle.

His mum hopes to conduct further searches of grounds where she believes he could have sought safety.

Speaking to STV News, she said: “I won’t stop, I will search for him until I find him.

“Alexander is a vulnerable young person. He was suffering with his mental health, and he’s considered on the autistic spectrum.

“There is for him a problem of coping with the emotions. He’s highly intelligent; he’s a very smart kid, but he’s got an emotional side.

“It’s very difficult for him to have to cope with, and the castle grounds are somewhere he would go to calm himself to get his thoughts or be collected, to get his help.

Viktoria Benga has said she won't 'give up' on searching for her son. — Viktoria Benga has said she won’t ‘give up’ on searching for her son. STV News

“It was like a safe place for him. Closer to nature, closer to the river or the sound of the water. He loves it, and it calms him down. So, if he was overwhelmed with emotions, he would go to the castle grounds for walks.

“We used to go with him for long walks – we could walk for hours around castle grounds.”

Viktoria has urged anyone who can support the search to get involved.

She hopes to double-check various areas of the island, including a wooded area and wind farm.

“I understand the local police did a great search, and there are so many people involved in this search, which I’m really grateful for. But there are so many possible ways and possible places where he could go hide, and it hasn’t been truly searched.

“Of course, it was done with the helicopter but if a person goes and he’s physically very capable, he can go for long distances, and he has knowledge of survival skills as well. So I still want to do that because I want to be sure that everything has been covered and checked and maybe double-checked.

“It’s been two months exactly. I have lots of questions and no answers and no one can answer those except for Aleksandr himself. What puzzles me is that I don’t understand how someone can vanish into thin air like this.

“We don’t have any sightings. We don’t have any video records or any dash cam records, any anything from the point where he was last seen on the water.

“It’s like he was lost in the air and it puzzles me. It’s a small place. It’s a small community, and everyone’s seen people, you know, that the Glen Road is very busy with the cars going to work and to town and out of town and if he went somehow from the castle grounds and we didn’t know which way there’s a lot of possibilities where he could go.

“It bothers me so much how no one has seen him since he left. You know, it’s very difficult to question yourself over and over again and not have answers.

“I’m enormously grateful for all the community and people who still have hope and still believe that he’s somewhere out there.

“That keeps me going, that keeps my hopes, you know, and with the prayers and with that hope, I just have to go. I have to keep going and searching for him.

“The idea that I’m not alone, that, all the community, everyone’s tried their best, that gives me the strength to keep searching.

“It’s very, very difficult. When someone’s gone, someone you love so much and the most precious person goes missing. It’s like part of you goes missing with him.”

Aleksandr is described as 6ft 2ins tall and of slim build with short brown hair. When last seen, he was wearing a beige jumper and black jeans. He had a yellow beanie hat with him.