Family of a Norwegian trekker missing near a remote part of northern Manitoba’s Hudson Bay coastline are grateful for the support they’re receiving from a mix of volunteers, emergency services officials and the public in helping to raise awareness and search for the 29-year-old.
Steffen Skjottelvik was last heard from on Aug. 14, when RCMP say he touched base saying he hoped to make it to York Factory, Man., the next day. He never arrived, but a spokesperson for Skjottelvik’s family says there’s now GPS evidence putting him near the fast-moving Hayes River before he went missing.
“The family is focusing on all the good efforts and all the hopes that still [are] present in this,” said Christian Dyresen, a spokesperson for the family, told CBC News by phone late Wednesday from Norway.
“The family wants to underline the importance of the co-operation between the official side in Canada and also the private network … that is helping. They appreciate the support enormously.”
Dyresen said Canadian officials informed the family on Tuesday that police have obtained GPS co-ordinates from some of Skjottelvik’s equipment that places him close to the Hayes. That’s where police, Manitoba Conservation officials and local volunteers from Gillam, Fort Severn and elsewhere have already been looking recently.
“It was a confirmation of where to concentrate the search and rescue which is going on right now,” said Dyresen.
Manitoba RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Paul Manaigre confirmed that Skjottelvik’s Garmin GPS data puts him on the east side shore of the Hayes River late in the afternoon of Aug. 14, about 4½ kilometres from York Factory.
Manaigre previously said there were suspicions Skjottelvik tried to cross the Hayes River before he disappeared.
Skjottelvik planned to trek from James Bay to Alaska, according to a Facebook page devoted to documenting his plans, called Steffen’s Great Canadian Journey.
Along the way, Skjottelvik planned to cross the 300 kilometres separating Fort Severn, Ont., and York Factory, Man., which is considered treacherous terrain consisting of a soggy muskeg landscape that is home to polar bears and wolves.
He left Fort Severn on July 25 and intended to arrive in York Factory by last Friday, Aug. 15. But that never happened.
RCMP say he arrived in Nanuk camp, about 40 kilometres from York Factory, on Aug. 13. He mentioned that he had lost one of his two dogs on the way.
No one has heard from since he last touched base on Aug. 14, saying he planned to arrive in York Factory the next day.
RCMP have previously said Skjottelvik suggested one of his dogs was lost in a wolf attack. Someone from Fort Severn posted images on Facebook of a skinny-looking husky resembling one of Skjottelvik’s dogs they said wandered into that community on Monday.
Police have said Skjottelvik is an experienced wilderness traveller in Norway.
“He has dreamed about crossing Canada by foot for a number of years. By foot in summer, and with dog sled in winter. He has saved money for many years to be able to do this trip,” his uncle Lars Jorgen Sorensen told the Norwegian news outlet Røyken og Hurums Avis.
“He has prepared himself for this trip for many years. He got to know many people while walking. He also lived with them for longer periods, before moving along.”
RHA staff provided CBC News with English translations of Sorensen’s comments.
Dyresen said Skjottelvik’s inspirations are two prominent wildlife experts in Norway who have written and done TV productions about the wildlife and wild lands in Canada, Alaska and around the world.
Both have been trying to raise awareness in Norway and beyond about the search for Skjottelvik and help his family’s efforts to raise money for the search effort, said Dyresen.
“I think for the family that is a big support because for Steffen, those two have been a great inspiration and he is kind of following in their tracks in Canada,” said Dyresen.
Fort Severn First Nation volunteers who were leading the search spent $70,000 on helicopter rental costs over three days beginning on Sunday, and the family is trying to help them recoup costs.
The chief of Fort Severn First Nation told CBC News on Tuesday that some felt the RCMP weren’t sufficiently resourcing the search effort.
Manaigre said Tuesday that one RCMP officer arrived in the area Monday to help with the search. As of Wednesday, he says RCMP hope to provide more support.
“Efforts are being made to send in a few additional officers to assist with a shoreline search in the area,” he said.
A representative with the Norwegian embassy in Ottawa told CBC News the embassy is aware of the search but could not comment further.
