Team of 50 searching for man last seen at Dauphin's Countryfest
CBC News | Posted: July 3, 2018 8:20 PM | Last Updated: July 3, 2018
Danny Kidane, 24, last seen around 3 p.m. Saturday
A team of 50 people is now searching for a Winnipeg man who went missing during Dauphin's Countryfest, RCMP say.
Members of the Manitoba RCMP, search and rescue and Office of the Fire Commissioner personnel are searching for Danny Kidane, 24, who was last seen around 3 p.m. Saturday in the campground at the popular music festival, which wrapped up on Sunday.
Festival organizers displayed Kidane's picture on screens at the main stage Sunday night and on-stage MCs announced that he was missing.
Missing man's brother not giving up hope:
This is the first time there has been an extensive search at the festival site located about 250 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, promoter and producer Rob Waloschuk says.
"Obviously we're all concerned and we all treat everybody like family and we try to make it as safe environment as best we can. So it's impactful for sure," he said in an interview with CBC's Radio Noon.
At the end of the festival, Waloschuk says, security staff held up Kidane's picture at the gate as people left.
"We're sad that he's gone missing," Waloschuk said. "It's tough for us, because it was a great, great weekend with great entertainment, great reviews on everything, and then this kind of doesn't top it off as good as we'd like, for sure."
He says RCMP have taken over the search, which has expanded from the festival site to part of Riding Mountain National Park, near the Selo Ukrainian site. Police say they are not looking for volunteers to help at this time.
RCMP sealed off parts of a creek on the festival grounds that's a hot spot for people wanting to cool down.