More than a dozen first responders are canvassing a marshy area on the east end of Echo Lake as the search for Greagan Geldenhuys enters its second week.
“We’re just eliminating some possibilities of where Greagan might be,” Fort Qu’Appelle Fire Chief David Sabirsh said. “We had the Water Security Agency come out here and close the dam off so we didn’t have a high current.”
The 7-year-old has been missing since Aug. 24, when the body of his mother, Temaine Geldenhuys, was found in the area known as B-Say-Tah beach.
RCMP say foul play is not suspected in Temaine’s death or Greagan’s disappearance. Family members believe it’s a tragic accident stemming from a swimming trip.
Unsettled and murky conditions have made the ensuing search for the boy much more difficult.
“We’ve had some high winds. We’ve had some interesting currents,” Chief Pilot for Amphibious Response Support Unit ONE John Maczko said. “That was something we noted with both the hovercraft and the dive team.”
RCMP will rejoin the search on Tuesday with using dive teams and sonar. The Underwater Recovery Team requires a certain number of divers present in order to deploy safely, which weren’t available through the weekend.
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The RCMP Helicopter is on standby, as is an RCMP boat should the need arise for further searches.
Fisherman at the nearby Calling Lakes Classic are also on high alert as the recovery mission continues. Many of their boats are sonar and GPS equipped, and they have instructions to call RCMP if there’s any sign of Greagan.
Countless volunteers have scoured the shores of Echo Lake, and property owners are asked to check around boat docks and launches.
Maczko’s team will return with a hovercraft Sunday, as crews patrol the east end of the lake and river and double back to areas they’ve searched previously.
“Every day is a new day,” Sabirsh said. “Something could develop. We’ll continue our shore search and the RCMP are coming back with their dive team on Tuesday.”
While RCMP has now classified this a recovery mission, everyone from volunteer divers to longtime firefighters say they won’t stop until Greagan is found.
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