'There's always a glimmer of hope that she is still alive,' mother says of missing Kenaston woman

A missing Kenaston woman's mother says she is holding out hope her daughter is still alive.  

RCMP said Sheree Fertuck left her family's farm last week driving a gravel truck. The truck was found the next morning, but the 51-year-old hasn't been seen since.

"There's always a glimmer of hope that she is still alive," Fertuck's mother, Juliann Sorotski, said.

"Given the amount of time she has been gone… I have to think realistically that she probably isn't alive anymore."

Sorotski described her daughter as hard working and conscientious.

"She is always thinking about getting her work done so she can support her children," she said.

A community-led search party was back out in the Kenaston area Thursday morning searching for the missing woman.

"We're searching buildings, obvious places around sloughs," said emergency management organization coordinator Gene Whitehead. "We have people on foot, we have some on skidoos, we have some riding their quads."

So far, community members have searched 155 square kilometres around the site where the gravel truck was found. Large groups of around 70 people have already been searching the area for days.

Locals said the ordeal has been difficult for everyone.

"Everybody here pretty much knows everybody," said Whitehead. "It's a small community, and everybody's connected, really."

RCMP are calling Fertuck's disappearance suspicious.

Fertuck is five-foot-four and 250 pounds, with greying brown hair and blue eyes.

She was last seen wearing grey sweat pants, a grey sweater and white running shoes.