'Don't worry mommy': Kyle Doan's dad recalls 5-yr-old's last words before floodwaters swept him away

The frantic search has yielded no results so far, and only one of Kyle Doan’s Nike sneakers has been found

PUBLISHED JAN 12, 2023

Brian Doan said his wife Lindsy did everything she could to save their son Kyle, 5 (San Miguel Sheriff Office and Lindsy Doan/Facebook)

SAN MARCOS CREEK, CALIFORNIA: The grief-stricken father of missing 5-year-old California boy Kyle Doan has revealed his son’s last words before floodwaters swept him away from his mother on Monday, January 9.

Kyle and his mother Lindsy Doan were on their way to the school where she teaches when their truck was stranded in the vicious floodwaters at the San Marcos creekbed near San Miguel in central California around 7.45 a.m. Witnesses managed to pull his mother out of the car, but Kyle disappeared downstream. Authorities suspect he floated toward a nearby river. California firefighters, a helicopter, and a dive team searched for the boy for seven hours, according to NPR. However, only one of Kyle’s Nike sneakers has so far been found during searches.

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Kyle’s father Brian Doan told the press on Wednesday, January 11 that the 5-year-old boy’s last words to his mother were "Mommy, it's gonna be okay. Just be calm and it's gonna be okay, don’t worry mommy." "He wasn't quite processing what was going on," Doan said, according to Daily Mail. "But he was so calm talking to my wife while they were still in the car."

Kyle and his mother Lindsy Doan were on their way to school, where Lindsy is a teacher when their truck was stuck by vicious floodwater at the San Marcos creekbed near San Miguel (Brian Doan/Facebook) — Kyle and his mother Lindsy Doan were on their way to school, where Lindsy is a teacher, when their truck was stuck in vicious floodwaters at the San Marcos creekbed near San Miguel (Brian Doan/Facebook)

Brian noted Lindsy "tried to hold on to him and it was hard to stabilize things with the current and they got separated." He also insisted that his wife did nothing wrong. "She made the best decisions she could, I got to keep stressing that. She couldn't stay in the car with him. The flows were going to overpower the car later on… They got out. That was the right thing to do," Doan added.

While the rescue team is desperately searching for the little boy, Doan admitted he and his family are prepared for the worst. "I've seen enough, you know. It's tough," Doan said. "You know what the odds are. And as much as people try to be optimistic – and I'm supportive of my wife – it's hard. The first night was damn hard – just thinking, 'Oh my God, why couldn't they have found him already?'"

The devastated father described his son as a "great kid' who liked dancing and was silly, talkative and outgoing, and desperate to get back to school. "He liked to be silly and try to get attention in all those ways that a five-year-old likes to do. He likes to play soccer and he liked his Paw Patrol." Brian added said that Monday, January 9, was the first day back at school for their family, and things were a little behind schedule.

Officials in San Luis Obispo have said that finding Doan remains their highest priority. Kyle is a kindergartener with short dirty blond hair and hazel eyes. The five-year-old was last seen wearing a black puffer jacket with a red liner, blue jeans, and blue and gray Nike tennis shoes. He is 5 feet tall and weighs around 52 pounds.