RCMP scrub search for missing teen

The RCMP-organized ground search for a missing 14-year-old boy on Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba has been called off.

An extensive search has failed to turn up any clues as to where Tyler Arkinson might be.

He hasn't been seen since he left a house party early Sunday morning in the community, about 100 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.

Arkinson's family reported him missing to authorities after they did their own cursory search and failed to locate him.

A team of volunteers, RCMP members, and representatives from the Office of the Fire Commissioner and Manitoba Search and Rescue have been searching since Tuesday, combing through wooded areas in the community using canine units.

The search focused on what the RCMP called the high-probability area that region where Arkinson was last seen and might have walked.

While the formal area search has ended, the RCMP will continue their efforts to locate the teen through investigative means, RCMP spokeswoman Sgt. Line Karpish stated in a news release.

The matter is still considered a missing person investigation and additional investigators have been dispatched to assist in that, she noted.

The RCMP will pick up the search once again if new information warrants it, Karpish said in an interview.

"We could be searching you know, for miles and miles. Where does it stop?" she said. "Unfortunately, we don't have any additional information that would suggest that we should go outside of the high probability area."

Meanwhile, volunteers and members from theprivately-run Manitoba Search and Rescue (MSR) resumed the search Thursday without the RCMP.

George Leonard, who heads up MSR, said it is possible Arkinson left the reserve entirely. A large hockey tournament was played in Sagkeeng that weekend, with people coming and going all the time.

"There was so many other people in the community. And with any community where you're just outside of Winnipeg, it's not uncommon for people to go back and forth and back and forth," he said.

"Maybe he's scared and he hasn't called home and he's at a friend's place, or he's in the city. I'm ok with that."

Karpish agreed, noting there is a major highway through the area.

"The probability that he may have gotten into a vehicle and left the area altogether cannot be ignored," she said.

Anyone that has any information on Arkinson's whereabouts is urged to contact the RCMP at 204-367-8728.