'Let's bring him home to his mom and dad': Search for missing six-year-old Manitoba boy continues

Six-year-old Johnson Redhead is shown in an undated photo provided by Manitoba RCMP.

Manitoba RCMP and community members are still feverishly searching for a six-year-old boy who went missing five days ago.

Johnson Redhead disappeared on Wednesday morning from Shamattawa First Nation in northeastern Manitoba. Investigators said he attended his school’s breakfast program until 9 a.m., but never showed up for his first class.

Sgt. Paul Manaigre, a Manitoba RCMP media relations officer, told CTV News on Sunday that two teams are still searching wooded areas around Shamattawa, a fly-in community about 750 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. Manaigre added there’s also a containment team combing through the community.

“What they’re doing is going from property to property,” Manaigre explained. “Did he go under a house’s crawl space? We have some areas that have appliances outside, so we’re checking those. Anything that someone of that age can hide is being checked.”

Manaigre said there haven’t been any definitive leads to Redhead’s whereabouts – and none of his clothing or personal items have been found.

“It’s frustrating, but we’re still going,” Manaigre said. “We’re not giving up – we’re pushing hard.”

Two more flights arrived in Shamattawa on Saturday carrying RCMP personnel and WINSAS (Winnipeg Search and Rescue) volunteers. Members of the 4th Canadian Ranger Patrol Group and volunteers from Cross Lake First Nation are also helping with the search.

On Saturday, Manaigre toured the area in a helicopter to scour the riverbanks for any sign of Redhead, though he added there’s been no indication the child went into the water.

“But you have to try and rule it out, Manaigre said. “There’s some areas of muskeg north of the community, so we flew extensively over that to see if we could spot clothing or something.”

Manaigre said the terrain around Shamattawa is relatively manageable and the temperatures haven’t dipped too low. However, it did rain overnight making Sunday morning’s search cool and damp.

A map showing the location of the school in Shamattawa (CTV News Winnipeg)

He said the teams will continue combing the area surrounding Shamattawa over the coming days, and that everyone is holding out hope Redhead is found safe.

“It’s a tough one given his age – six years old. We don’t get many of these [searches] where they go several days, but you have to try and remain positive,” Manaigre said. “We’ve got a job to do. Let’s go find him. Let’s bring him home to his mom and dad.”

- With files from CTV’s Devon McKendrick and Katherine Dow