Jason Unrau
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Nov 28/05) - Police are saying little about the circumstances surrounding two men rescued from the Mackenzie River Delta two weeks ago after the snowmachine they were riding plunged through the ice.

Ryan Bebek and Leon Muir were found hungry but safe three days after heading into the bush Nov. 9 to a cabin approximately 30 km southwest of Inuvik. However, questions about how they got there remain and police are saying little, except acknowledging that the incident is still under investigation.

"There's some reason to believe the machine that went through the ice may have belonged to somebody else," said RCMP Cpl. Jim Strowbridge, who co-ordinated the search.

According to the police, Bebek and Muir, "left Inuvik on Nov. 9 around noon (and) were to return the following day."

When they did not return as expected, a helicopter chartered by their families began to search Nov. 11 at about 11 a.m. During this search, a snow machine which the men had taken on this trip was located frozen in the ice. "Police conducted a cursory search of the area, but were limited due to the loss of daylight," RCMP said in a press release issued after the men were found.

The search continued Nov. 12 from the air and on the ground, where searchers came across footprints leading away from the sunken snowmobile. This track was followed for approximately five kilometres where the men were seen walking down the centre of a creek. A helicopter returned the men to Inuvik where they told police that the machine was lost through thin ice on Wednesday evening (Nov. 9).

Both continued to their intended destination for a short distance before stopping to make a fire and dry their clothing. The men spent three nights sleeping on the frozen river delta.