A patrol earlier this month failed to turn up any new information on two travellers who went missing on their way to Łutselk’e more than two months ago.
In a news release on Thursday, RCMP said search efforts are ongoing for 23-year-old Cammy Boucher and Jake Gully, 28, of Fort Good Hope. The body of 65-year-old Sam Boucher of Łutselk’e, Cammy’s father, was recovered on May 20.
The three travellers are believed to have left Dettah late in the day on May 13 with a snowmobile and two toboggans. When they failed to arrive in Łutselk’e the next day, they were reported overdue. A five-day air search ensued as ice conditions during the spring break-up were too treacherous to conduct a ground search.
A patrol from July 13 to 15 was concentrated in an area between Etthen and Blanchet islands, where Sam Boucher’s body was recovered. RCMP, together with the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, took two ships out on a patrol of the East Arm of Great Slave Lake.
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Police say a patrol was focused on the area between Etthen and Blanchet islands. Google Maps image
Patrollers used SONAR and an ROV (remote operated vehicle) to search the bottom of the lake. Police found no new evidence or sightings of the missing travellers, snowmobile, or toboggans.
Police searched the area after community members in Łutselk’e identified it as an “area of interest.”
“We continue to ask anyone that is travelling near the area of interest, between Etthen Island and Blanchet Island, to report anything unusual to the Łutselk’e RCMP,” Łutselk’e detachment commander Cpl David Greene said on Thursday.
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The area is also being monitored by the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA) from the air.
Police said the families of Boucher and Gully are being up to date as the search continues.
A week after they were reported overdue, police said they were treating the two as missing persons although they had evidence they “suffered the same fate” as Sam Boucher.
Police ask anyone with information to contact the Łutselk’e RCMP at 867-370-1111.
