Dawn Ostrem
Northern News Services

Yellowknife ( Jun 02/00) - Police are looking for the man involved in the theft of a truck and thousands of dollars worth of surveying equipment in it.

A truck was stolen from a Sub Arctic Surveys' work site May 13 and although it was later recovered on Highway 3, 25 kilometres toward Rae, the equipment stolen is still missing. It is worth approximately $5,440.

A new program used by the RCMP called FACES software has produced a composite computer image of the man thought to have driven away with the vehicle. "The witness comes in and goes through the various facial features the computer has stored in it," explained Cpl. Ken Morrison of the forensic identification services department.

"He or she goes through each facial feature one at a time, gradually putting the face together."

Sub Arctic surveyor Anil Hayne witnessed the man steal the truck, thinking at first it was his boss Bruce Hewlko.

"I almost waved to him because I thought it was Bruce," he said.

Hewlko added that the truck was parked just out of site along the Yellowknife access highway from the Explorer Hotel to a power sub-station.

"The individual must have walked up to the truck, seen that the keys were in it, hopped in and just took off," he said. "He drove right past (Hayne)."

The truck was recovered on the Rae road but missing was a levelling instrument, tripod, triple prism, peanut prism, tribrack, metal detector, survey chain and other tools. The man is said to be a tall, 30- to 40-year-old of medium build.

Police are requesting the help of anyone with information regarding his whereabouts to call Const. Brian Anderson at the Yellowknife RCMP detachment or Crime Stoppers.