*** Hope Fuels Search for Manitoba Boy ***

17th to 1st August 2000

17th July, 2000
Mallard, Manitoba

Adam Killick, National Post
Fred Greenslade, The Winnipeg Free Press

No solid leads to eight-year-old missing for 4 days.

Relatives of Marcus McKay, an eight-year-old missing in the Manitoba bush
since Saturday, embrace at the site where 200 volunteers are searching for
the boy. Police say they have not considered putting an end to the search.


The mother of Marcus McKay, an eight-year-old boy missing for four days in
a remote part of Manitoba, was holding out hope for her son last night as
more than 200 volunteer searchers continued to wade through the thick,
swampy bush calling his name.

"Marcus wants to come home, but he doesn't know the direction," said Darlene
Dumas, who moved to Mallard, Man., with her son two weeks ago from Winnipeg,
over 300 kilometres to the southeast. She said she believes her son is
scared, but is moving around trying to keep warm. 

"The spirit out there is still one of hope," said Sergeant Craig Cochrane,
the RCMP's Winnipegosis detachment commander. "We're just plugging away at it."

Marcus was hunting with his stepfather and several others on Saturday on the
east shore of Waterhen Lake when, after the party had shot a deer, he offered
to wait with the carcass while his stepfather went to round up the others. When
the group returned an hour later, the boy had vanished. Although there have been
some reports of footprints, none have provided any solid leads, Sgt. Cochrane
said yesterday. The search area, originally concentrating on an eight-kilometre
radius from the spot where he was last seen, was expanded yesterday afternoon
when another set of footprints was found. The area is being searched with the
aid of a helicopter and two spotter airplanes.

After spending a fourth night in the bush, officials fear Marcus, wearing only
jeans and a T-shirt, is suffering from hypothermia. Overnight temperatures have
dropped to 2C.

The search effort is slowed by the swampy landscape, Sgt. Cochrane said, and
because of bushes in the area that are nearly two metres high, much taller than
the boy. "It's rough. It's not nice. It's very swampy, and wet, and its very
thick, dense bush," he said. One volunteer added he could only see within a 
etre-wide radius while trudging through more than half a metre of water.

Eleven different search and rescue teams are co-ordinating parties of volunteers,
and Manitoba Hydro has offered the use of three amphibious vehicles. A battalion
of army personnel is expected to join the search today.

Each morning, a helicopter equipped with an infrared radar has scanned the area
for signs of body heat. After dark, a group remains to stoke a giant bonfire
hoping to attract Marcus's attention.

Rain and the hunting group's own efforts to find the boy on Saturday night made
itimpossible for police dogs to pick up his scent, Sgt. Cochrane said.

Police have not ruled out the possibility of criminal activity, he added, but
are concentrating first on the search effort. "There's nothing there to create
any unusual suspicion of foul play, [but] we would be remiss if we didn't
consider that," he said.

Police have not set a deadline for when the search might be wound down. "We're
just going to continue on as long as we can. We have not even discussed calling
this off," Sgt. Cochrane said


	*** Mother Issues a Plea for Help ***

Hunt for lost boy exhausts searchers

Thursday, July 20th, 2000
By Helen Fallding

MALLARD -- The mother of an eight-year-old boy lost in the wilderness since
Saturday is calling for fresh reinforcements to bolster hundreds of weary
searchers battling against time. 

No trace of Marcus McKay had been found last night by ground and air crews who
have blanketed the boggy area 100 kilometres northeast of Dauphin since the boy
disappeared on a hunting trip with his step-father. 

"They are tired," Marcus's mother Darlene Dumas said of the hundreds of
volunteers. "I see a lot of faces that are here from Day 1." But no one is
giving up. "I think he's still alive," said Curtis Thomas, who drove four hours
from the Jackhead Reserve on Lake Winnipeg to join the search. 

After three days of battling swamp, bugs and thick brush, Thomas had only one
word to describe how he was feeling yesterday. "Tired," he said, before grabbing
a bite to eat from volunteers who whip up an endless supply of sandwiches under
a tarp. 

Many of the 400 or so people at the base camp several kilometres from town have
some connection to Marcus's family. Others have come in by the busload from
reserves near and far, where the image of a cold and confused boy wandering the
bush for days on end is haunting entire communities. 

Marcus used to play with Melvina Sanderson's son Matthew on the Crane River
reserve. "We always take him out in the bush. He's always beside us. There's
always the possibility that he could get lost, too," she said. "I would want
this many people out looking for him. I wouldn't give up, either." 

Dumas is grateful to all the people who are looking for her son with as much
passion as if he were their own. She knows the searchers are exhausted from
lack of sleep and the heavy physical work of pushing through the brush. Dumas
said it is time for new rescuers to carry some of the load. 

RCMP Cpl. John Brossart said there can never be too many people for a search
that now extends over many square kilometres of wilderness. "We'll take
everyone that's willing to come." 

Yesterday, 40 soldiers arrived from Winnipeg and Canadian Forces Base Shilo to
join RCMP who continue to search within a five-kilometre radius of where the
boy was lost. Capt. Rob Hume said the soldiers brought extra global positioning
system receivers to help map the areas being searched and prevent volunteers
from getting lost. 

Many are spending hours slogging through muskeg in flimsy shoes reinforced with
duct tape. 

Parents have been asked to leave their children at home to avoid accidents at
the central camp, where vehicles mill around picking up loads of workers. 

Search parties yesterday followed the directions family members have received
from elders, after police and fire officials admitted that their strategy of
focusing on a five-kilometre radius had not yet worked. "Our methods have not
produced the desired results," Brossart said. 

An infrared heat sensor taken up earlier in the week by helicopter broke down
yesterday. 

Community members suspicious about why it is taking so long to find the boy
have raised the possibility of foul play, but police will only say they are
investigating the boy's disappearance as the search continues. 

More than 100 searchers formed a giant line yesterday that swept through the
bush toward a road. Friends and family lit fires at the spot where the boy was
last seen waiting beside a freshly killed deer. 

Brossart would not speculate about when the search could be called off. "We're
not looking at an end date," he said. On Tuesday, assistant search manager
Doug Popowich said Marcus's chances of surviving so many cold nights were
growing smaller. There are also black bears in the area. 

The boy's great-grandmother, Agnes Beaulieu, has had only a few hours sleep
since Marcus disappeared, but when she slept, she dreamed about him. "The
little boy was laying down beside a bear to be warm." When Beaulieu woke, she
lit a fire and prayed that Marcus would feel its warmth. 

Searchers received a boost yesterday with $2,000 in donated food from
Aboriginal and Northern Affairs Minister Eric Robinson. Individual donations
are also flooding in, but more are needed, says a spokesman for the local
community team that is organizing food for the camp. 

Here's how you can help 

If you're interested in helping the search for Marcus McKay, you can phone the
Waterhen General Store at (204) 628-3481 to send a cheque or voucher. Food or
bedding can be delivered to the new Mallard community hall, where about 70 
people are staying overnight. Supplies and cash donations are also being
accepted at the Dauphin Friendship Centre, (204) 638-5707. 


	*** No Way Boy Alive: RCMP ***

Friday, July 21st, 2000
By Helen Fallding

MALLARD -- The family of an eight-year-old boy missing in the northern
Manitoba bush is refusing to give up hope even though RCMP now say the boy is
presumed dead. 

Police called off the official mission to rescue Marcus McKay late last night. 

But McKay's family vowed to find the boy alive. 

"What they don't understand is the traditional way. When guys do vision quests
they go longer than this without food or water," said Marcus's mother, Darlene
Dumas, who said she knows her son is alive. 

Dumas pleaded last night for more searchers to join the hundreds who have
gathered this week at the base camp 100 kilometres northeast of Dauphin. The
boy went missing Saturday during a hunting trip in the dense bush near Mallard. 

After a private meeting in Waterhen with family members, Sgt. John Fleming
said police will provide some assistance to the family if they want to search
for Marcus's body. 

Fleming said the chief medical examiner told searchers there is no chance Marcus
is still alive, taking into account the weather and terrain as factors. 

Assistant search manager Doug Popowich said the search is now considered a
recovery mission. He said three staff from the fire commissioner's office, two
Mounties and any other volunteers will continue today to help the family search
for a body. 

A helicopter and soldiers who have been taking part in the search are no longer
part of the mission, but planes will continue to scan the bush and tracked
vehicles on loan from Manitoba Hydro will be available today. 

There were 20 trained searchers working yesterday. Today there are expected to
be five, Popowich said. 

"We're just not working 18 hours a day," Popowich said, adding he was hoping to
send staff home for the weekend to return next week and join the search for a body. 

Popowich said the search team planned to meet with family members this morning to
put together a plan. 

"This isn't an environment that is conducive to an eight-year-old boy surviving in
muskeg and swamp for very long," said Fleming. 

"The weather was another very significant factor because once hypothermia sets in,
it doesn't go away without medical intervention." 

The boy was clad only in jeans and a T-shirt when he disappeared, and nighttime
temperatures have dipped to near freezing. 

Family and friends have been dropping food, water and blankets in the bush over
the last few days in case Marcus stumbles across them. 

The boy's stepfather, Rilley Chartrand -- the last person to see Marcus alive
before he disappeared on a hunting trip -- said he knows people in Mallard suspect
he is not telling the truth. "They don't get to me," Chartrand said. "I know for
a fact what happened." 

Chartrand said the boy wanted to stay behind with a freshly killed deer while his
stepfather went off to round up other members of the hunting party. The lad
jokingly asked Chartrand to leave behind the rifle, his stepfather said. 

Chartrand said police have asked for details about the hunting trip to help with
the search, but have not questioned him suspiciously. 

He said he is prepared to tell police why he was hunting when he was under a court
order not to be in possession of firearms. "I was brought up to hunt, to live
off the bush." 

Police said yesterday Chartrand is not being investigated as a suspect in the
boy's disappearance. 

But they confirmed Chartrand was convicted five years ago of assault and
uttering threats, and his sentence included an order prohibiting him from
possessing a firearm. 

Police wouldn't say whether Chartrand would be charged with having breached that
firearm order. 

"Right now, our focus is the search for Marcus and we'll deal with that later,"
Sgt. Steve Saunders said last night. 

Dumas said the negative talk needs to end so people can work together to find
Marcus. "There's no foul play whatsoever. Rilley loves Marcus just like he loves
his own kids." 

A massive five-day search co-ordinated by RCMP and fire officials scoured a
10-kilometre-wide area. 

Yesterday, RCMP divers waded through creeks and a beaver pond as hundreds of
volunteers revisited an area that had already been searched at the request of
Marcus's father, Maury McKay. Fleming said helicopters and planes have flown over
every trail for 65 kilometres. 

An infrared helicopter search to detect heat sources turned up only rabbits, but
Fleming said the technology would not pick out a person hiding in a bear den or
lying under a canopy of leaves. 

Signs discovered in the bush late yesterday were left by an earlier search party,
said Fleming, noting that broken branches and footprints are no longer significant
when rescuers have been through the area thousands of times. 

Popowich praised the volunteers yesterday, calling the search the largest of its
kind in the province. 

Up to 600 people a day have gathered at a clearing in the woods to help. In the
last few days, searchers slogging through the muskeg have walked close together
scanning every metre of ground between them in case Marcus was unable to move. 

Psychologist Gordon Favelle said last night that he and other community workers
will meet to develop a plan for helping the community cope with the facts. 

There has been ongoing tension between officials organizing the search and family
members who have more faith in traditional aboriginal wisdom. 

Joe Anderson spent his 71st birthday walking through muskeg after being called
in from the Fairford First Nation because of his reputation for finding missing
children. In the 1970s, Anderson discovered a five-year-old boy and his
seven-year-old sister alive after they had been missing in the bush for seven
days. He also told police where to look for the body of an RCMP officer's son
who drowned. 

"This is the first time I've completely failed," Anderson said yesterday. 

The auctioneer is called an elder by the people who sought his help, but he said
his methods have nothing to do with "Indian religion." He just analyses the
territory and thinks. 

Anderson asked a friend to check out a hunch for him yesterday, but was not
ready to talk about his suspicions, saying he is friends with both sides of
Marcus's family. 

"It's just a matter of time. It will be known what happened. It's pretty hard
for me to say it now," Anderson said.


*** 'He's still out there' ***

Boy missing a week, Dad pleads for search to continue

Saturdday, July 22nd, 2000
By Helen Fallding

MALLARD: Marcus McKay's father is begging people not to abandon the search for
the eight-year-old boy who has been missing in the bush since last Saturday.
"We're running out of time, but he's still out there," Maury McKay said
yesterday afternoon as a tear trickled down his dusty cheek.

Exhausted police and fire officials co-ordinating the official search pulled
out yesterday afternoon as about 50 local volunteers continued to comb the
area, 100 kilometres northeast of Dauphin.

Fire commissioner Doug Popowich said about a dozen trained searchers will
return for a few days early next week with a helicopter and dog to search for
a body. The province's chief medical officer has said there is no chance the
boy survived the first few cold, wet nights in the bush clad in only a T-shirt
and jeans.

If searchers find clothing, RCMP will return over the weekend, Sgt. Craig
Cochrane said from Winnipegosis.

Grand Chief Rod Bushie of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said yesterday the
rescue mission was called off too early. "If the young kid was dead, we would
have found the body."

Northern Affairs Minister Eric Robinson said he would meet this morning in
Mallard with the local council before deciding what he will recommend.

McKay has been combing the swampy brush almost non-stop since his son
disappeared on a hunting trip with stepfather Rilley Chartrand. McKay refused
to speak with the media until yesterday, when the Crane River man broke his
silence briefly in an interview with the Free Press. 

"We should have had him the first night," McKay said, barely able to choke out
the words. "We had a bunch of local guys willing to go in. (The police) were
worried about maps, worried about people getting lost. These people have lived
here their whole lives." McKay said there are lots of berries for his son to
eat. "He's not going to starve. He's just running scared."

Volunteer searchers aided by police were kept hopping yesterday morning
following up on new leads as people reported fresh footprints and even
sightings of Marcus.

Psychologist Gord Favelle, who spent the day at the search base camp, said some
sightings could be wishful thinking. They will keep grieving family members
on an emotional roller-coaster by renewing their hope, he said. Finding a body
would help the family, Favelle added.

But family members showed few signs of grieving for a boy they feel is still
alive. They were unmoved by the statistical evidence cited by police about how
far lost children travel and how long they can survive. "They're not very good
bushmen," Marcus's grandfather, Eli McKay, said of the police. "They just need
their compasses." 

The searchers are furious with some media outlets that reported the search is
over just when they say they need fresh volunteers and supplies more than ever.

Bottled water, Band-Aids and food are at the top of the list, along with a
generator after the Salvation Army decided to leave the site yesterday. Donors
can call the Waterhen General Store at 204-628-3481. Organizers say they have
received about $3,500 worth of donations a day to support crowds of up to 600
searchers.

Liz Dano said calls are still coming in from communities wanting to find out
if volunteers are still needed. Local organizers were negotiating yesterday to
have an ambulance remain at the search headquarters.


 *** Family wish granted, search still on ***

Province asks RCMP to continue, volunteers persist

Sunday, July 23rd, 2000
By David Kuxhaus

THE search for Marcus McKay who disappeared in dense bush one week ago will
continue, Aboriginal and Northern Affairs Minister Eric Robinson said yesterday.

On Friday, RCMP called off the official mission, saying they believed the
eight-year-old boy to be dead. Frustrated family members, however, refused to
give up hope. Robinson travelled to the community of Mallard yesterday and met
with RCMP and other rescue workers. "I've been assured that the resources from
the RCMP will be available," Robinson said.

He said his government will also be supplying all-terrain vehicles, generators,
blankets and other gear for searchers. A base-camp has been set up 100 kilometres
northeast of Dauphin. The boy went missing last Saturday during a hunting trip
near Mallard.

The boy was clad only in jeans and a T-shirt when he disappeared. His stepfather
had left him behind with a freshly killed deer while he went off to round up
other members of the hunting party.

Robinson said the mayor and council of Mallard will now be taking the lead in
the search with help from RCMP. Band councillor Adrien Laquette said he believes
the boy is still alive. "This is not a search and recovery," said Laquette. "This
is a search and rescue." Laquette said between 100 and 150 volunteers were out
yesterday morning searching.

Robinson noted that volunteers have come from places as far away as The Pas and
Sagkeeng First Nation to help out. Robinson said he planned to stay the night
to lend support to exhausted search crews. "I believe it's important for me to
be here," said Robinson, adding that he planned to meet with family members later.


*** EMO joins search for boy missing in bush ***

Monday, July 24th, 2000
By Tracy Tjaden

THE province has beefed up efforts to assist police in Mallard, Man. find the
body of a local eight-year-old boy who disappeared during a hunting trip over a
week ago. RCMP Sgt. Steve Saunders said the provincial emergency management
organization, or EMO, was called in to help searchers yesterday, but there was
still no sign of Marcus McKay.

Police decided late Thursday night that their chances of finding Marcus alive
were nil, and the rescue mission became a search for a missing body.

It was expected professional searchers would take the weekend off, and resume
with scaled-down efforts today. But Saunders said a steep drop in the number
of volunteer searchers -- combined with insistence from the boy's family that
he is still alive -- prompted officers to cut their break short. "We didn't
know the numbers were going to drop off that drastically when we pulled out."

Trained searchers

Saunders said the search drew up to 500 helpers on some days last week, but
there were only about 80 yesterday. He couldn't say how many EMO members
joined the search team yesterday, and a spokesperson with the group could
not be reached.

This week, the search team is expected to include an eight-member RCMP team,
led by two site commanders, professional searchers from the Fire
Commissioner's office and Natural Resources and any volunteers who show up.
"We want one trained searcher with every group of volunteers," Saunders said. 

Saunders said there have been no new developments into the investigation
into foul play in connection with Marcus' disappearance. He said the search
could call for dragging swamps in the region, but there would first have to
be evidence that Marcus would be found there.


*** Search carries on for lost boy ***

Tuesday, July 25th, 2000
By Bill Redekop

SEARCHERS have still not found a trace of eight-year-old Marcus McKay, 10
days after the boy went missing in dense bush and bog in Northern Manitoba.
"That's what's got people buffaloed," said provincial spokesman Jim
Perchaluk. "The trackers haven't found anything." RCMP, provincial staff,
and up to 200 volunteers kept up the search yesterday near Mallard, 400
kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

Perchaluk said the searchers have expanded their target from a five-kilometre
radius from the point where the boy was last seen to eight kilometres. As
well, searchers are going over some areas a second time.

The RCMP do not believe Marcus, clad only in T-shirt and jeans, has survived
the ordeal. The area, swarming with mosquitoes and has been unseasonably
cold. RCMP had called off the search last Thursday but returned at the
province's urging. The boy's family remain hopefully Marcus is still alive.

McKay disappeared July 15 while hunting with his stepfather, Rilley
Chartrand. He had become too tired to walk at one point, so he stayed with
a freshly killed deer while Chartrand went to get the rest of the hunting
party. When Chartrand returned, the boy was gone. 

The Mounties are also conducting a missing-person investigation. RCMP Sgt.
Steve Saunders said they won't be able to eliminate foul play until the
body is found. Police say Chartrand has co-operated fully with them and
was not considered a suspect.

The province plans to continue the search today but cannot say how much
longer it will go.
"We're playing it on a day-to-day basis," said Perchaluk.

-- With files from Canadian Press


*** Marcus's family divided, hoping ***

 RCMP to use dogs in final attempt to find boy lost in swampy brush 

 Thursday, July 28th, 2000 By Helen Fallding 

 MALLARD -- A flame of hope that Marcus McKay is still alive after 12 days
in the bush burns in the hearts of the eight-year-old boy's family even as
police make one final attempt to locate his body. 

 Three police dogs are expected to roam the swampy brush today and tomorrow
sniffing for a body after search crews pulled out last night to clear the
area of human odors. The boy's family is still recruiting volunteers to
resume the search if the dogs are unsuccessful. 

RCMP Staff Sgt. John Fleming said yesterday that nothing short of a direct
act of God could have kept the boy alive for so long after he disappeared in
the cold, wet bush July 15th. 

But both sides of Marcus's bitterly divided family swore yesterday that he
is alive, living on roots and berries. Stories are circulating about
children who survived in the woods for more than two weeks, although no one
can remember exactly where or when. 

"I could feel his presence -- that's what's keeping me strong," the boy's
mother, Darlene Dumas, said yesterday, her eyes vacant after so many days of
searching in vain.

Throughout the longest and most intense search in recent Manitoba history,
she has maintained an unshakable faith in the boy she brought into the world
at age 20.  Last week she wandered barefoot down the dusty road past long
lines of searchers' cars, but she has been sticking close to her in-laws in
recent days and saying little.

Marcus disappeared while on a hunting trip with Dumas's common-law husband,
Rilley Chartrand. In the camps where family and friends have stayed since
Marcus disappeared, the dominant emotion yesterday was anger -- not at the
RCMP, but at Chartrand for leaving the boy alone and at Dumas for defending
him. 

Dumas and Chartrand recently moved to Mallard from Winnipeg because the
hyperactive Marcus was starting to hang around with the wrong crowd in the
city and leave home without permission.

Chartrand, whose father is mayor of Mallard, said people in the tiny town
100 kilometres northeast of Dauphin were against him even before the boy
disappeared. He said the tired boy insisted on waiting behind while
Chartrand went to find other members of the hunting party after shooting
a deer. 

But Darlene Dumas's brother, Paul Dumas, who was in that hunting party with
his own kids, is so angry about what happened that he refused to talk to
his sister yesterday. He and many Crane River relatives have sided with
Marcus's natural father, Maury McKay, who spends nights alone in the woods
calling for his son.

Family members admit it was difficult to get Marcus to do what he was told,
but they say Chartrand should never have left him alone in the bush. "I would
have picked him up and carried him," Betty Moar said. 

Chartrand has publicly expressed his regret about leaving the child alone.

Under child welfare laws, it is illegal to leave a child under 12 alone in
Manitoba. Police have postponed any decisions about charges related to
Marcus's disappearance while they focus on the search. 

Family members are fighting over who should control money donated for food
and supplies, but they are united in their call for more recruits to help
scour the bush once the officials pull out for good this week.

RCMP committed more than 2,000 hours to the search. They and personnel from
the Office of the Fire Commissioner assisted hundreds of volunteers who
combed the dense, swampy bush with help from Manitoba's Emergency Management
Organization, Manitoba Hydro, several provincial government departments and
the Department of National Defence. 


*** Police turn to dogs in Marcus search ***

Friday, July 28th, 2000 By Mia Rabson 

THREE police dogs and a dog from the Department of Natural Resources scoured
the dense brush near Mallard until late yesterday evening, hoping to find a
trace of the missing eight-year-old.

"They're looking for anything that doesn't belong there, that can help us to
know what happened to Marcus McKay," RCMP spokesman Sgt. Steve Saunders said.
Marcus disappeared during a hunting trip July 15 wearing only a T-shirt and
jeans.

Hundreds of volunteers joined the search for the boy but police say there is
no chance he'll be found alive. 

Saunders said the dogs were looking for anything that could be used as a clue
to what happened to the boy. He said the dogs would stay out yesterday as long
as they were able, and that yesterday's findings would help determine whether
they go back today. 

"When they stop tonight, they'll come back and debrief and then they'll decide
whether they'll go back tomorrow," Saunders said. 
The case is now being looked at as an investigation into Marcus's disappearance,
not a search, he said.  "They're there to gather evidence now," Saunders said.
"And they aren't going to talk about it. It's not a public search anymore." 


*** Family, friends continue to search for boy who disappeared in bush ***

Tuesday, August 1st, 2000 

DOZENS of friends and family members continue to search for eight-year-old
Marcus McKay, who disappeared in thick bush near Mallard July 15. 

Mallard Coun. Liz Dano said searchers returned Friday night after police dogs
left the area without finding the boy. RCMP co-ordinated a massive search when
the boy disappeared, but believe he is now dead. Some of Marcus's closest
relatives insist he is still alive in the bush, Dano said yesterday. 
"They're not going to give up until they find him."
 
She is distressed by rumors circulating over the weekend that Marcus's body
had been found. "People were planning on coming. When the rumor was going
around, they stopped and didn't." 

Mallard Community Council continues to recruit new volunteers and organize
supplies, with help from a couple of provincial government staff. Radios have
been donated to replace those on loan until yesterday from MTS Mobility, Dano
said. 

Dano estimated about 80 people volunteered for the search Sunday, many of them
from Crane River, where Marcus's parents were raised. Police are no longer on
site, but are available if the community asks for help, RCMP Cpl. John Brossart
said.

Rumors have picked up steam since RCMP said it would not necessarily release
information about evidence gathered during an ongoing investigation into the
boy's disappearance. RCMP spokesman Sgt. Steve Saunders said yesterday the
police will notify the public immediately of major developments such as 
the recovery of a body. He issued a news release yesterday to counter rumors,
including one that the boy's step-father, Rilley Chartrand -- the last person
to see Marcus alive on a hunting trip -- had been taken into protective custody. 
"None of them are true," Saunders said. "It is not unusual in high-profile cases
for rumors to be generated.... It can be very damaging."

Dano said some family members spend nights listening near the spot where Marcus
was last seen. Other searchers from as far away ask Saskatchewan comb the bushes
100 kilometres northeast of Dauphin until nightfall. 

Volunteers interested in continuing the search can contact the Mallard Community
Council at 204-628-3396. 


From the Winnipeg Free Press... 

*** Community continues search for missing boy ***
Wednesday, Aug 9th, 2000
 
"ABOUT 40 people are still searching for a missing eight-year-old boy who
disappeared in thick brush near Mallard 25 days ago. Some family members believe
that Marcus McKay may still be alive, while other searchers are working just as
hard looking for a  body.

"We want to put it to rest," said William Lacquette, who has not taken a break
since the search began. "I'm getting emotionally and physically finished." 
He said searchers are travelling far from the spot where the boy was last seen.
RCMP focused search efforts in the first days after Marcus's disappearance on a
five-kilometre radius, but concluded the boy could not have survived more than a
few days in the cold, wet bush. 

Marcus disappeared after his stepfather left him to wait beside a freshly-killed
deer while the man went to get other members of the hunting party. 

The search is now being organized by volunteers, who are running out of water,
food and mosquito repellent. Cash donations can be sent to the Marcus McKay Trust
Fund at the Bank of Nova Scotia in Dauphin, while food can be delivered to the
Mallard Hall. The community continues to recruit volunteer searchers from as far
north as Pukatawagan on the Churchill River." 


FROM THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS... 
Hope keeps die-hard group searching bush for Mallard boy
 
Saturday, September 16th, 2000 
By Leah Janzen

Two months after eight-year-old Marcus McKay disappeared, relatives, friends and
neighbours continue to  search the thick northern bush. 

"There are still about 20 people out there everyday,'' said Liz Dano, a Mallard,
Manitoba councillor and  search co-ordinator. "We get more coming on the weekends
to help. We're not ready to give up." 

Marcus went missing July 15 near Mallard while on a hunting trip with his
stepfather. The boy had asked to wait beside a deer carcass while his stepfather
went to find other members of the  hunting party. But when the man returned to the
site, about an hour later, Marcus had vanished. 

For weeks, hundreds of volunteers, RCMP officers and military personnel combed
the swampy bogs and  muskeg in the area about 100 kilometres northeast of Dauphin
looking for signs the child was still alive. 

But while the RCMP called off the official search at the end of July and many of
the hundreds of searchers  have gone home, members of this small community refuse
to give up. 

Dano admits the search has become frustrating. Indeed, trained searchers and
police dogs were equally  unable to uncover any leads as hours and weeks turned
into months. 

"We feel really strongly that we need to know what happened to him,'' she said.
"But so far we have had no solid clues." 

RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Steve Saunders said investigators are still reviewing the
case, and that foul play  has not been ruled out.

Dano said donations of food, gas and money which poured into the community at the
beginning of the search  have been depleted, along with the number of searchers
going into the bush. 

"More hands would be more than welcome,'' she said, noting a handful of fresh
searchers are expected to  come from Bloodvein this weekend. "People are really
tired. We're wondering if we will ever find him. But we  try not to think about
that." 

Anyone interested in joining the search or making a donation is encouraged to
call Dano at 204-628-3454.