PATUANAK – Searching for missing people is challenging enough, but when that missing person is somewhere in the vast bush of the North at night in the dead of winter, the situation is especially serious.
That’s the situation Patuanak RCMP found themselves in on Nov. 14, 2022 when a missing persons report came to their detachment. Police were told that a 60 year-old man was out hunting with a friend, and hadn’t been heard from for over 30 minutes.
“(The missing man) wasn’t new to the bush, but anytime someone’s not heard from in the wilderness, it’s a big deal,” said Cst. Kirk Ingham, the acting corporal at the Patuanak RCMP detachment. “Based on the community response wanting to help, they knew this was a dire situation. If he wasn’t found that night, the situation would be different in the morning.”
Ingham led the search response, and one officer ventured out for the last known location the missing man had been seen. A pair of other members gathered supplies and joined in the search.
“We filled our vehicle with fuel as we didn’t know how long we’d be there,” Ingham said. “We ran into a member of the Canadian Rangers and they were loading up with similar supplies and making their way to assist as well.”
Given the remote location of the search, additional human resources would be necessary. The Beauval RCMP Detachment assisted with more officers, as did the Meadow Lake RCMP Police Dog Services. Conservation officers were also contacted to pitch in.
“We didn’t really have too much to go off of. One guy who’d seen him that day, which was his hunting buddy there,” said Ingham. “He did have [some] survival equipment with him. A little bit of equipment to make a fire, he had a machete. He only had one bottle of water and a thermos full of tea as far as liquids go, so we figured he was running low on that.”
The members soon entered the bush, a daunting activity given the conditions.
“Northern Saskatchewan can be very treacherous, even for an experienced person,” Ingham said. “Being so far north, we get dark extremely quick. By the time we got the call, it was already completely dark - no ambient light coming in. The sun had set and was long set. We knew we had to get out there right away, because as the sun stays set - even when we have a mild day temperature-wise - when night rolls around and that sun goes away, it can get extremely cold.”
The terrain of dense brush, pine trees, plenty of ground cover and deadfall meant for careful footing. Added to that is the muskeg threatening hypothermia should one wrong move plunge someone into the water.
“And if you fall through, you don’t know how deep it is,” added Ingham. “At the end of the day, in that temperature, what’s really going to scare you is going to be getting wet and having to try and keep yourself warm after being soaking wet.”
After approximately 10 minutes of entering the bush, the two officers lit flares and called out to the missing man.
“We had a couple flares, followed the trail and called out his name,” said Cat. Zach Mann. “We followed the trail, and 200 to 300 yards in, we started hearing a faint response to our calls.”
Ingham was back at the road, organizing the group that had gathered to aide in the search. Meanwhile, the two officers in the bush continued following the faint response to their calls.
“I couldn’t quite make out what he was saying,” Mann recalls. “It could’ve been ‘hey’ or ‘over here’. When we first heard it, it was very faint. I was the only one to hear it, the other [officer] didn’t hear it...we were able to keep calling him and eventually get a sense of his direction, where his voice was coming from. [At about] 500 yards in, we were able to hear him better. Once we could get him loud enough, we came off the trail and were able to locate him.”
Every minute counted in this search, and it would be another 15 minutes before the duo would see the missing man.
“You could tell he was soaking wet, [he] was asking for water,” remembers Mann. “We were able to follow our path back, there was a lot of deadfall. It's easy to lose your trail if you’re not careful. [Cst. Ingham] flipped on the [police vehicle] sirens a few times to help with sense of direction.”
Fortunately, the group managed to emerge from the bush unscathed.
“There was concern for officer safety, sending our police officers into the bush,” said Ingham. “It was a lot to coordinate and I was so happy other supports were on their way.” He added that the missing man seemed shaken, and his pants were soaked and frozen, but he was otherwise in good condition. He was then given a warm ride back to Patuanak by family who had arrived.
“Teamwork was extremely essential,” said Mann, who had less than three months of service as an officer at that point. “The great thing about small, northern detachments is that even though you’re brand new, you’re still essential. There are no specialized resources you can get right away. You’re going to be one of the [officers] that’s responding. You have to learn as you go.”
Ingham noted the sense of relief in the group at the road while he provided updates via radio.
“Even his hunting buddy who’s one of his really good friends, when I said that we can hear him, they’re hearing his voice, they found him, they’re in there, we’re going to make sure he’s safe. I could see the smile come back for the first time since we were out there, knowing his friend was going to be safe and he was located,” he said.
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