The search for a missing non-verbal six-year-old boy in Shamattawa First Nation continues to expand, with more resources arriving in the northeastern Manitoba fly-in community Saturday.
Johnson Redhead was last seen on Wednesday morning, after he went to his school’s breakfast program but didn’t show up to class after that, RCMP previously said.
Sgt. Paul Manaigre said Saturday that two flights of searchers arrived Friday night and two more would arrive during the day, bringing 30 to 40 more experienced searchers from Winnipeg, Thompson and Pimicikamak Cree Nation to join the ground crews of about 50 to 80 community members in Shamattawa.
“Now it’s just a matter of putting them out there … getting into the woods. This is where we believe he is,” said Manaigre, who spoke to CBC on Saturday afternoon after a ground search.
A helicopter search of the riverbanks was planned for later in the afternoon, he said.
Manaigre also said he met with Johnson Redhead’s mother and father on Friday.
“She was hopeful that we’re going to have some results.… That was hard seeing her,” he said, becoming emotional.
“It puts the human side of it,” said Manaigre. “It’s a six year old boy. You got to find him.”
Johnson, who was last seen wearing a blue hoodie with a grey hood, is believed to have left the school area Wednesday, sparking a large-scale search of the area by community members and RCMP. In the days since, the search crews have “grown exponentially,” said Manaigre, as more resources arrive in the fly-in community.
Members of the boy’s family are involved in the search and have set up a camp near the search area.
“Family is not giving up and they just wanna be out there, they won’t come home yet, until they found him,” Johnson’s aunt Sheila Reigns wrote in a Facebook post Saturday.
“Let’s not give up. I know it’s getting exhausting and tiring.”
Focusing on west of community
Manaigre said the search has been largely focused on bushes in the west of the community, near its nursing station, after tracks were spotted in the gravel pits there. It’s not yet known if the tracks are Johnson’s.
Three main search teams with GPS were expected to conduct a grid search of that area Saturday afternoon, Manaigre said, walking the area back and forth in a line, about six metres apart, then inputting the data into a map to track which areas have been covered.
“I don’t think anyone’s giving up. We’ve got the temperatures that are helping us. Today is one of the cooler days, but we’ve had low to mid-20s since I’ve arrived here [on Thursday],” he said.
“If he’s out there, there is water to drink pretty much anywhere,” he said. “I’m hoping we can get some good news today.”
A police dog and two drones with infrared capabilities were helping search the focus areas Saturday, he said.
Personnel from the Office of the Fire Commissioner have been helping with a command centre and logistics given the influx of people into the community, about 750 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. Manaigre said most of the people who have arrived to help are stationed at the school.
In addition to the tracks spotted in the gravel pits, a small footprint believed to be a child’s was found in the muskeg a kilometre north of the community on Thursday.
“I actually stepped into that mud [nearby] … and I sank about a foot,” said Manaigre, but the person who made the footprint “only sank a couple inches.”
“So it’s consistent with a smaller child,” which is “promising,” he said.
“We’ve been putting a lot of resources into that area, and he’s obviously moving.”
‘You got to find him’
Searchers have been combing through wooded areas, and checking trails, roads, sheds and construction equipment, as well as going door to door looking for the child.
Manaigre said most of the search is on foot, though the helicopter will be focusing on the Echoing River and riverbank to west of the community Saturday afternoon, in hopes of ruling those areas out. There are no indications the boy has gone into the water, he said.
Members of the 4th Canadian Ranger Patrol Group and the Winnipeg Volunteer Search and Rescue are also in Shamattawa to help with the search. Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief Garrison Settee said his organization will send volunteer searchers and crisis team members to the community throughout the weekend.
CBC has reached out to Shamattawa’s chief and council, who are helping with the search, but has not heard back.
Manaigre said having so many more searchers on the ground over the weekend should help cover more ground. The number of searchers currently is ideal, as too many searchers makes co-ordination difficult, he said.
WATCH | Search for missing Shamattawa boy enters fourth day:
Dozens more searchers join ground search for 6-year-old Johnson Redhead in Shamattawa First Nation.