Family, volunteers, police continue search for Brandon man last seen Friday morning

The family of Jordan Ross are continuing a ground search for the Brandon man, while Manitoba RCMP say they are focusing their efforts on the Assiniboine River.

Ross has not been seen or heard from since Friday morning, when he left his home near the Grand Valley Park campground to do some work there. 

His vehicle was later found parked close to the nearby Assiniboine River, RCMP said on Saturday. 

Grand Valley Park, a private campground on leased provincial land, is in southwestern Manitoba, a few minutes northwest of Brandon. 

Despite searches by multiple search and rescue agencies and volunteers since Friday night, he has not been found.

His brother, Jeff Ross, said the fact a body hasn't been found feels like "both a blessing and a curse." 

"We still really don't have a definitive answer to where my brother is. We're not certain he's in the river or if he was lost in the wood," Ross said. 

Jordan's family is devastated by how long he has been missing, Jeff Ross said, but will continue searching until they find him. 

The search and rescue efforts started with volunteers on Friday. On Saturday, RCMP search and rescue and the Hutterian Emergency Aquatic Response Team (HEART) joined the search.

Jeff Ross said search and rescue efforts on Saturday and Sunday were exhaustive, including hundreds of volunteers. 

RCMP shift focus to water

On Monday, RCMP said their ground search has been suspended, and efforts will now focus on the river.

"A large area had been covered without any leads," RCMP Sgt. Paul Manaigre told CBC in an email.

"The search has yet to be successful and will continue today as the focus shifts to the water."

Teams of volunteers also continued the search on Monday.   

Jeff Ross said the community is supporting the search effort through donations and volunteering. The owner and operator of a helicopter has been helping with aerial search, he said.

"We have hundreds of … [people] out on the river, paddling up and down," he said. "We have drone operators that are flying up and down."

What the family needs most from the public is for anyone who may know anything to come forward, Ross said.

That includes any information on what may have happened to him, or where he might have gone.

"Any clues would help us focus our efforts in the right direction, and we're not going to stop until he's found."

Anyone with information is asked to call Blue Hills RCMP at 204-726-7519.

Jordan Ross, 41, is five feet 10 inches tall and weighs about 175 pounds. He is bald and has blue eyes. Police believe he left home wearing black ankle boots.