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Missing teens found, back home after ATV breaks down Search and rescue teams used
boats, ATVs and a helicopter to locate them northeast of Rankin
Miranda Scotland
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, July 10, 2013
CHESTERFIELD INLET/BAKER LAKE
Rescuers have found two teenagers from Chesterfield Inlet who went missing this past weekend while travelling to Rankin Inlet on an ATV.
The teens, aged 18 and 19 years old, left the hamlet early in the morning of July 6 and were reported missing the following day when they didn't arrive at their destination, said Const. Mark Fowler with the Chesterfield Inlet RCMP. A trip between the two hamlets usually takes about eight to nine hours.
Members of the search and rescue teams (SAR) from Chesterfield Inlet and Rankin Inlet looked for the boys using ATVs, boats and eventually a helicopter.
The teens were found 20 nautical miles northeast of Rankin Inlet and were brought to the hamlet. No medical attention was required. Fowler said the two young men had mechanical trouble with the ATV they were riding.
Residents travelling between communities this summer should take precautions to ensure their safety, said Fowler.
"Never travel with just one ATV. If there is more than one person going, take two. Make sure you're properly equipped with a rifle, proper supplies, lots of water."
Meanwhile, search and rescuers renewed efforts to find 72-year-old Alvin Kannak of Baker Lake who went missing in May.
A team of four searched 70 kilometres of land from July 4 until July 6 in hopes of finding the elder but nothing turned up.
"There was not one sign of evidence where he is," said Silu Autut, treasurer for the Rankin Inlet search and rescue committee.
"We would have gone longer but one of our members, his knee swelled up, so we couldn't continue any further. We didn't want to leave him behind because that's a really rough terrain, a lot of wildlife up there."
The rescuers were picked up and dropped off in a helicopter provided by Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd.
Kannak disappeared May 7 after he fell off a qamutiik driven by his grandson while the two travelled home to Baker Lake from Rankin Inlet. The elder had only the clothes on his back when he went missing. However, he is experienced with being out on the land.
The men were thought to have completed about half their trip when Kannak was lost.
Autut said there are plans to search again once a ship is sent in to break up the ice in the area.
"We're just trying our best and hoping for the best too," he said.
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