Community volunteers call off search for man missing near Cambridge Bay, Nunavut
Search and rescue volunteers in Cambridge Bay and Kugluktuk, Nunavut, have called off the search for a man who went missing last month between the two Kitikmeot communities.
The missing man — confirmed by RCMP to be Albert Anavilok — is one of two travelers who were expected to meet family at a cabin in Cambridge Bay on April 21 but did not make it there. Anavilok's travelling companion was found safe on May 1 around Parry Bay, on the Kent Peninsula outside Cambridge Bay.
On May 7, the government of Nunavut called off its search for Anavilok but community searchers said at the time they weren't ready to call off their own efforts.
Cambridge Bay search and rescue co-ordinator Angulalik Pedersen said they were following Anavilok's footsteps in the snow, but he says the weather has made it difficult to continue.
"We've had so much snow melt that all trails from our search time and all footprints that we've been following, everything's melted away, the ice conditions are very dangerous now," he said.
"Everyone's exhausted, we've covered all of our ground, we've doubled over everything and we haven't found anything."
A map of area covered by ground searchers, looking for the two men who went missing, as of May 1. One of the men was found that day. (Submitted by Angulalik Pedersen)
Pedersen said that the two men had an issue with their snowmobile that caused a fuel leak while travelling to the Cambridge Bay cabin and they ran out of fuel as a result.
They pitched camp and spent a couple of days in one spot until Anavilok went to climb a hill with a pair of binoculars to check his surroundings. He never returned, Pedersen said.
Pedersen says the younger man, found earlier this month, is healthy and had been helping with the search for Anavilok.
"His spirits, he's trying to remain, you know, as best as he can," Pedersen said.
Pedersen said it's been one of their longest-running searches in recent history. He said there were over 60 volunteers searching on the ground, working 16- to 18-hour days.
RCMP is now opening a missing person's file on Anavilok.
Pedersen is reminding anyone who goes out on the land to bring a communications device, even if they're only making a short trip.
