‘We just want him back.’ Community prays for SLO County boy swept away by floodwaters
.JPG "From left, Melanie, Brian and Lindsy Doan stand next to Pastor Leo Martinez as he prays for Kyle Doan during a vigil for the missing boy from San Miguel on Jan. 12, 2023. Kyle was swept away in floodwaters during a storm that hit San Luis Obispo County on Jan. 9.")
The parents of a San Luis Obispo County boy who was swept away in floodwaters on his way to school gathered with community members on Thursday evening to pray for the return of their missing son.
“We just want him back,” said Brian Doan, whose 5-year-old son, Kyle, vanished Monday.
About 100 community members gathered in San Miguel Park at 7:30 p.m. Thursday for what described as a night of prayer.
Many of those who came together Thursday knew each other. They are business owners, churchgoers, school teachers and leaders in San Miguel, a small town north of Paso Robles that has about 2,500 residents.
Other participants were meeting for the first time, brought together by the tragedy of Kyle’s disappearance.
During Thursday’s night of prayer, people huddled together, holding flickering candles, wiping away silent tears and hugging loved ones as they prayed for Kyle to come back to his family.
In the middle of the crowd, the Doan family — Brian Doan, Kyle’s mother Lindsy Doan and sister Melanie Doan — clung tight to each other, illuminated by battery-powered lights that were brought out to the park for the gathering.
Pastors Leo Martinez and Mike Duran led the community in somber prayer.
“We’re going to pray, united, as a community,” Martinez said in Spanish.
Duran’s voice was full of emotion as he spoke through a microphone.
“Take a minute to bow your heads and just talk to God,” said Duran, who preaches at Fuente de Agua Viva Church in San Miguel. “Ask Him for help to find Kyle. And pray for help for the family.”
Search continues for missing San Miguel boy
Kyle Doan, a kindergarten student at Lillian Larsen Elementary School in San Miguel, was last seen Monday morning when he and his mother became trapped in floodwaters from San Marcos Creek.
Bystanders were able to rescue Lindsy Doan, a special education teacher at Lillian Larsen Elementary, but her son disappeared in the current.
The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office, with help from the California National Guard and search and rescue teams from counties across the state, has spent four long days of searching San Marcos Creek and the Salinas River for Kyle.
“We will search until we find him,” said Tony Cipolla, Sheriff’s Office public information officer.
Despite the rain on Friday, the search will continue, Cipolla said.
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Lindsy Doan spoke briefly during Thursday’s prayer event, speaking through tears as she thanked the searchers for their efforts.
“We’re so thankful for all of you,” she said. “You have been incredible going out to search. I can’t thank you guys enough.”
Brian Doan also thanked the community before reminiscing on the days he’d spent in San Miguel Park with Kyle after picking him up from school at Lillian Larsen Elementary just a few blocks away.
Duran said there were many in the crowd Thursday evening he recognized from his congregation. There were also many he didn’t recognize, he noted.
“It’s about compassion,” he said, pointing to a woman as she went up and hugged the Doan family.
The Latin word compati translates to “suffer with,” Duran explained. It’s the root of the English word compassion.
“Quite literally, you feel compassion within your gut,” Duran said. “These people, they might not know each other, they might not know Kyle or the family. But they’ve felt it within themselves to come here and give compassion, give love and pray.”
This story was originally published January 13, 2023 at 10:20 AM.
