The tiny flashing lights of an RCMP plane could be seen in the night sky over Red Earth Cree Nation — embers of hope in the search for a missing five-year-old boy.
The plane equipped with thermal imaging technology took to the air after nightfall on Wednesday in an attempt to locate Frank Young, who went missing Tuesday.
During a virtual news conference Wednesday, Carrot River RCMP Sgt. Richard Tonge said the aircrew would wait until evening to take flight, giving its thermal cameras a better chance of spotting the boy.
A video posted to Facebook just before 11:30 p.m. Wednesday night shows the plane soaring over the community, located roughly 350 kilometres from Saskatoon.
The post came nearly 35 hours since the boy went missing.
The search intensified on Thursday with two dog units, boat teams and three drone operators working to find the boy, according to a Facebook post on the local government’s Facebook page.
An RCMP dive team which arrived in the community Thursday began its search of a river, the post said.
Frank was last seen around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, playing in the front yard of a home in the community.
