Search for missing Labrador boy finds tracks to open water

Searchers looking for a missing Labrador boy are focussing on an area of open water near the Makkovik area, on Labrador's north coast.

The 14-year-old left his home to go to his grandmother's house early Sunday afternoon.

He arrived, dropped off his cousin – then he left again. When he wasn't seen by 7:30 p.m., the police were called.

Monday afternoon RCMP Corp. Kimball Vardy said searchers found a set of snowmobile tracks heading out the Makkovik harbour and into open water.

"So, what we've done, we've got a group of searchers in the water there now, with a small boat and they're trying to prod around in the slob and that to see if they can find any actual confirmation that the snowmobile did go through," she said.

Vardy said Monday afternoon that a boat was checking around the slob ice and looking for debris. He said an underwater camera will be brought in from the island to see if a snowmobile is on the bottom in about 90 feet of water. Vardy said a dive team may be brought in to help with the search effort.

The overnight temperature in the area was -13 C, with the wind chill making it feel twice as cold.

The weather has been good for searching and about 60 searchers from Makkovik and nearby Postville have covered a wide area, but with this latest development, most efforts are now focusing on the open crack of ice just outside Makkovik harbour.

Police have not released the name of the missing teenager.