SAR members in paddle boats search mouth of Hudson Bay slough Friday afternoon. Photos 250News

Prince George, B.C. – A 15-year-old boy who vanished while swimming with a friend on the Fraser River on Friday remains the object of an intensive search today.

Shortly after 4 pm Friday the missing boy’s buddy, who is also 15, called police to report that his friend was missing on the river.  Prince George Search and Rescue was notified and, assisted by the RCMP,  had members searching on land and on the water right up until dark Friday night.  SAR Manager Dave Merritt says he had a team of 19 people involved, along with two jet boats, two paddle boats and a crew from Yellowhead Helicopters conducting an air search.

The boy who notified police told them in a follow-up interview Friday evening that he and his friend and the friend’s girlfriend were at the river and the girlfriend eventually left.  The two boys decided to go swimming on the river near the mouth of the Hudson Bay slough.  He told police that when his friend disappeared on the river he went to get help, and located the girlfriend.

Search boats scoured riverbanks between slough and Fort George Canyon

Search Manager Merritt says his ground team scoured the riverbank from Landsdowne Road to the Yellowhead Bridge.  It also covered the south side from the Simon Fraser Bridge down river.  The searchers in the two paddle boats went over the slough repeatedly, from its mouth at the Fraser inland.  The jet boats covered the Fraser River from the slough to Fort George Canyon, a distance of about 30 kilometres.  The team in the chopper covered the river from Prince George to Hixon twice, but reported seeing nothing.

Searchers discuss strategies in hunt for missing teenager

Merritt says the search effort was wrapped up at dark Friday night with no sign of the missing teen.  He says “we’ll be back on the water and run the river with jet boats again” early this morning.  Start time, he says, will depend upon “availability of crews, jet boats and everything else.”  Merritt says a decision on possibly using other search resources will be made this morning.