Eric Ratt. Photo courtesy of RCMP.
As another group of searchers heads north this week to look for 58-year-old Eric Ratt, organizers of the effort will assess the situation.
Ratt, who is an experienced trapper and bushman, was reported missing on December 3rd, 2016.
The Lac La Ronge Indian Band member was last seen when he left his brother’s cabin on Zimmer Lake on October 19th, 2016.
An aerial search of the area located his canoe and some of his supplies, but so far there has been no trace of Ratt.
Lac La Ronge Indian Band Chief Tammy Cook-Searson says volunteers with the Canadian Search and Disaster Dogs Association from Edmonton were part of the effort last week.
“We had them come in and help on a previous search last year, and the searchers who were on the ground there in the Key Lake area had asked if the dogs could come in and assist them, so we made a call and then they were able to mobilize and they spent three days in Key Lake,” she said.
Cook-Searson says another group of searchers will be headed to that area on Wednesday, and at the end of the week the situation will be assessed.
“They are going to go this week and then we’ll see how it goes with the searchers this week, but they’ve been searching since the beginning of December and they only took a couple of days off,” she said.
Cook-Searson is expressing gratitude to Cameco, which has provided food, accommodation and gas for the searchers, including the dogs and handlers. She’s also thankful for Kitsaki Management Limited Partnership, which provided personnel, snow machines, sleighs, camp equipment and supplies, as well as the RCMP and the many volunteers who have helped in the search.
Anyone who might have been in the area around Key Lake and may have information on 58-year-old Eric Ratt is asked to contact La Ronge RCMP.