Hay River (Mar 13/06) - Diane St. John says it was a long 40 minutes.

That was the amount of time her four-year-old son Quinn was missing after disappearing on March 4 while sliding on the banks of the Hay River.

Diane St. John and her son Quinn revisit the Hay River sliding hill where the youngster briefly disappeared on March 4. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo -

"I wouldn't recommend it to a parent, that's for sure," St. John says of the experience.

However, she believes it can serve as a warning to other parents about how easily a youngster can slip away. St. John says she often tells her five children to stay close to her, but will have to remind them more often.

St. John says on the afternoon Quinn disappeared, she and three of her children had just arrived at the sliding hill, not far from the ice crossing to the Hay River Reserve. All three children slid down the bank in their snowsuits.

As she was helping Quinn's brother and sister back up the hill, he wandered away on a wooded trail along the river next to Riverview Drive.

"While I was concentrating on getting the others up, he had a chance to escape," St. John says.

Why Quinn wandered off remains a bit of a mystery.

"I wanted to find a house," the youngster simply says.

When St. John realized he was missing, she also walked along the trail, thinking Quinn might be looking for another sliding hill. "I was pretty sure he knew not to go on the river."

Some passers-by and other area residents, along with the RCMP, joined the search.

"It was terrific and they were very quick," St. John says. "I hardly had to say a word and they were off and running."

Quinn was eventually located by a woman not far from where he disappeared. The woman stayed with him until the police arrived.

St. John doesn't know the identity of the woman who found her son.

"It's a mystery good citizen."

When the police came upon the woman and Quinn, he did not want to get into the police car and they walked him back to his mother.