Eric Ratt. Photo courtesy La Ronge RCMP
More ground searches are being organized for a northern trapper who hasn’t been seen since mid-October.
Eric Ratt of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band was last seen leaving a family member’s cabin on Zimmer Lake, and was scheduled to drop off supplies last month, but never arrived.
Lac La Ronge Indian Band Chief Tammy Cook Searson says several people were flown in to an area where Ratt’s canoe was found on the weekend to assess the situation.
“They made a plan that we would set up a camp … close to the Key Lake mine site where the searchers can stay and then also set up another couple of tents where the canoe is where there will be more searchers going out,” she said.
Cook-Searson says officials with the Key Lake mine are helping the effort.
“When we called the Key Lake mine site to see if we could set up a camp, we talked to the mine manager and he said that the searchers can stay at the Key Lake camp and then they’ll also feed them and then they’ll also help out the searchers with gas and propane and whatever else that we need.”
Cook-Searson says several searchers are already setting up camp and assessing the ice situation, and more are expected later.