Missing Southend youth found, safe
- EFN Staff | November 10, 2014
UPDATE:
The five people observed by CASARA at 12:50 p.m. have been identified as the five youth reported missing to Southend RCMP on Thursday, November 10, 2014.
All five youth are now accounted for and safe back in the community of Southend, SK. Due to the weather, a rescue boat picked up the youth on one side of Malcolm Island, where they were initially observed, and transported them to the other side of the island, where there is a small airstrip. CASARA was able to land at that airstrip and transport the youth in two trips back to Southend: three youth in the first trip, two youth in the second trip. They were all safely back in Southend at approximately 4:50 p.m.
All five youth are said to be in good health, but are being transported to the Arthur Morin Memorial Health Center in Southend, SK. as a precaution.
"We are still gathering the specific details of this incident. Thank you to CASARA and the local search teams who were vital in locating the missing youth," says the RCMP.
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RCMP continues to search for five missing youth from Southend.
The one female and four males are believed to be somewhere in the area of Reindeer Lake after leaving for Reindeer Lake nearly a week ago, on Tuesday, November 4. They range in age from 13 to 17 years old.
RCMP was notified shortly before midnight on Thursday, November 6 that the youth had not returned.
Since then, there has been a search involving local residents, Civil Aviation Search and Rescue (CASARA) and the RCMP.
Two boats were observed docked at the wharf of a privately owned lodge on Reindeer Lake on Saturday, November 8 by CASARA. Due to poor weather, searchers were unable to travel to the area until Sunday, November 9. On Sunday, searchers observed that the lodge had been broken into with some supplies taken, but no one was at the lodge at that time. This has supported the belief that the youth are alive, but RCMP has not made immediate contact with them at this time.
CASARA searched a large portion of the lower half of Reindeer Lake on Sunday, November 9, but were not able to locate the missing youth. There is little to no communication (cellular service) on any area of Reindeer Lake, except in the vicinity of Southend.
In its latest release, RCMP says the search continues but has been hampered by poor weather conditions. "Strong winds and large waves are hampering search efforts both in the air and on water. The temperature has ranged from -10 to -18 degrees Celsius with some snow," it says.
Reindeer Lake is the second largest lake in Saskatchewan and ninth largest lake in Canada having what has been described as thousands of islands.