Donations to help the mother of a missing Manitoba man find her son have helped ramp up search efforts.
Kelly Lavallee said a large group made up of volunteers combed areas around Ebb and Flow First Nation on Saturday looking for her son, 21-year-old, Dwayne Lavallee.
“We have horses going around which is covering a lot of areas,” said Kelly in a phone interview with CTV News Sunday.
Kelly said a volunteer is using a drone and the family received enough money to cover the cost of a helicopter to look for Dwayne.
She said both have been used to search around the location where Dwayne’s vehicle was found near Ste. Rose du Lac on Sept. 26, and around Ebb and Flow First Nation.
The Lavallees are from Skownan, about four hours northwest of Winnipeg.
Kelly said the last time she saw her son Dwayne was Sept. 18, before going away for a few days with a friend, and never came home.
She said Dwayne was last seen on video surveillance Sept. 22 at a gas station on Ebb and Flow, and that’s why searchers are concentrating on areas around the First Nation.
“He’s my son, I love him very much, and I’m not going to quit searching for him. And my family too, he means a lot to them,” she said.
Kelly is thankful for the support and donation from people in Ebb and Flow and the surrounding communities.
“The horses, come from Rolling River First Nation, and I had a crew from Pine Creek Manitoba. It’s not just the nearby communities. It’s all over,” she said.
Kelly said daily searches are continuing out of the Ebb and Flow Community Centre where donations can be dropped off. Volunteers usually meet around 10 a.m.
“Still come and help with the ground search, they bring a lunch for the searchers,” she said.
