Crews begin their search on a river at Red Earth Cree Nation on April 21. (Submitted Photo/Prince Albert Grand Council)

By paNOW Staff

SEARCH CONTINUES

Search for missing boy moves to the Carrot River: RCMP

May 4, 2022 | 12:00 PM

After more than two weeks, RCMP and search and rescue teams are still hoping they can find Frank Young.

The five-year-old boy from Red Earth Cree Nation hasn’t been seen since April 19.

(Submitted Photo/Carrot River RCMP)

Saskatchewan RCMP provided an update on the search efforts Wednesday, saying ground crews have so far covered an area of about 92 square kilometres.

“Now that we have extensively searched the community and the area around it and given the ice on the Carrot River is now broken up, we will focus on the water,” said Insp. Murray Chamberlin. “Over the next few days, the Saskatchewan RCMP will be using boats and other methods to search the Carrot River for any sign of Frank.”

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Chief Fabian Head of Red Earth Cree Nation and Chief Marcel Head of Shoal Lake Cree Nation were unable to attend the update Wednesday morning.

When it came to the water searches conducted so far, Chamberlin said those searches were decided based on how far they believe a five-year-old could travel, adding those areas have been thoroughly searched and they continue to be searched and covered.

“Our focus now will be to move our searchers towards the water,” he said. “Now that the river is open, we have the opportunity to do that safely so that will involve utilizing boats up and down the river, RCMP boats, as well as a number of civilian boats have been working on the river and we will continue with that for a number of weeks.”

Chamberlin said the snowpack is decreasing thanks to the warm weather the area experienced over the weekend. He pointed out, however, that it’s led to complications, especially for the ground searchers as several areas are flooded.

Meanwhile, an Emergency Advisory Alert that was issued following Frank’s disappearance was cancelled on Tuesday afternoon. Chamberlin could not speak to why that was cancelled as he’s not involved in that process. He believed the decision would be made based on whether that information broadcasted to the public would be of value at this time.

paNOW has reached out to the province for clarification on why the alert was cancelled and is awaiting a reply.

Chamberlin was asked during the update at what point a search like this is called off and becomes a recovery mission.

“Every search is unique; it has to be continually assessed. We will search until we’re confident we’ve exhausted all investigative opportunities in this case. As I said, we’re going to focus our efforts on the Carrot River and will continue to follow up on any leads that may come up.”

Saskatchewan RCMP continues to ask for any tips that may lead to Frank’s whereabouts.

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panews@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow