IKALUKTUTIAK/CAMBRIDGE BAY - The mother of Julian Tologanak-Labrie is pleading for a continued search effort to find her son's body before winter arrives in Cambridge Bay.

"I just wish I had a million dollars," Helen Tologanak said. "I wish there was funding so we can access funds to hire a helicopter or an airplane. We need more time."

Twenty-year-old Tologanak-Labrie jumped from a King Air 200 aircraft during a flight from Yellowknife to Cambridge Bay on April 15. A search began shortly afterward, but no sign of his body was ever found.

RCMP Cpl. Bruce Collins said the initial search for Tologanak-Labrie ended on April 24.

Residents and family members continued to look for him during the following weeks, and Tologanak said a helicopter from the Hope Bay mine participated in an aerial search in May.

Tologanak said she would like to enlist the help of the Canadian Coast Guard, the Canadian Rangers and anyone else who might be able to assist in a search.

"I know it's really rough terrain out there, but if we could even have some experts, like hikers who are experts at looking for people," she said.

She also said she spoke with Brig.-Gen. David Millar, commander of the Canadian Forces in the North, about a continued search effort. She said she hoped officials might have been willing to hold Operation Nanook in Cambridge Bay in anticipation that the military might be able to locate her son's body.

"I was hoping they would do it here, move their military exercise over here and maybe they could find him, make it happen somehow, I don't know," she said.

Tologanak said she realizes her requests are difficult to grant, but she said she no longer knows what to do.

"When you have to go to bed, you just think another day has gone by again without finding him," she said. "It would be so nice just to be able to put my son to rest so our family can have some closure."

Tologanak said she is hoping to meet with federal health minister Leona Aglukkaq to discuss options with her. She said she hopes the Coast Guard will assist in the search, as Tologanak-Labrie's body could be in the water outside the community.

"He may not be on land. He may be in the water. I don't know," she said. "I wish the Coast Guard would help."

Coast Guard officer Scott Miller said the department was notified about the incident when it occurred in April, but said the search was considered a recovery operation and was the responsibility of the RCMP.

"At that point it would be a recovery operation and the RCMP would be looking after that," he said.

Miller said any future search endeavours would also be the responsibility of Cambridge Bay RCMP.

"In my history here we have very seldom gotten involved in anything like that, that falls under local jurisdiction," he said. "It's mainly because of assets that would be required to do it properly and we've got our day-to-day business to conduct ourselves."

Tologanak said she is grateful to everyone who has assisted in trying to find her son.

"I just want to say thank you to everyone," she said. "I haven't forgotten about them."

Tologanak also said Tologanak-Labrie's son Felix resembles his father, and the soon to be two-year-old is a source of joy in her life.

"Losing a child is the most terrible thing in the whole world, but when I see my grandson, he's the spitting image of his dad," she said. "He brings me happiness. He keeps us going."