The organizers of an effort to drag the Red River in search of clues about missing women held a meeting for volunteers at Alexander Docks Sunday.

Kyle Kematch was one of dozens who signed up to help in the effort.

His search for his sister, Amber Guiboche, has been ongoing since her disappearance nearly four years ago.

“It’s not easy,” said Kematch. “I walk down the street and everybody looks like my sister sometimes.”

Other volunteers said they were there because they want to do something – anything – to help.

“This is not just an aboriginal problem. This is a people problem,” said volunteer Freya Hansen. “This isn’t just a women’s issue. This is a people issue. We are all brothers and sisters.”

Groups of volunteers working in small boats will drag a custom-made metal bar with chains and hooks along the river bottom. They hope to snag anything that might help police investigations into missing and murdered women.

“They record everything that they find, hopefully the coordinates as well,” said Percy Ningewance, who is coordinating the logistics for the drag. “And then we’re going to hand that over to police.”

About 100 people attended Sunday’s planning meeting. Volunteer coordinators said the response shows just how much the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women means to people.

"We have a number of people who donated boats. We have people who created the tools we need to drag the river,” said Rebecca Chartrand, one of the people helping coordinate the effort. “We're asking volunteers to come out and maybe help search the banks while the boats are in the water."

A test run over a small section of the river on Saturday didn’t turn up any evidence, but it did quell concerns over the possibility of the hooks snagging on debris in the river.

“Everything from tree roots to cars to who knows what,” said Chartrand. “But it actually went really well, so that gave us a lot of hope.”

Organizers plan to have the operation in full swing within a week.

The search will begin in sections of the river where bodies have been found in the past and will continue as long as volunteers remain available and the weather allows.

Winnipeg police said they are not involved in the search. They said members of the diversity and crime prevention unit met with organizers and expressed concern over the hazards of searching the river.

 

Police said organizers declined an offer to consult with the police search and recovery unit.