Search called off for missing Gjoa Haven elder
David Siksik’s family says they have accepted the decision after 13-day land, air search
The search for Gjoa Haven elder David Siksik was called off on Nov. 3 after 13 days. His family continues to hope he will be found, while plans are being made for searches underneath the ice this winter. (Photo by Nehaa Bimal)
The Hamlet of Gjoa Haven has called off a search for an elder who went missing two weeks ago.
On the morning of Oct. 21, 79-year-old David Siksik left home on his Honda ATV without a satellite messenger device to set fishing nets at a lake about 32 kilometres north of the community.
He never returned home, though his son, Allen Siksik, still believes he might.
“I do have hope,” Siksik said in an interview Thursday. “I still have hope, thinking he is waiting in a cabin, but no one could find even the ATV.”
Over 13 days, searchers travelled by ATV within 100 kilometres of Gjoa Haven, the hamlet said in a Nov. 3 update on Facebook.
A Canadian Coast Guard helicopter and a Royal Canadian Air Force Hercules aircraft assisted. Community members organized ground searches, including trips to Peel Inlet, on the northern coast of King William Island.
The neighbouring community of Taloyoak pitched in fuel, Siksik said.
Siksik believes his father may never have reached their family’s cabin, which is near the lake that David Siksik was heading toward, as there were no footprints or ATV tracks nearby.
Some lakes in the area were not completely frozen, and Allen said his father may have gone through the ice.
“I was just aching from trying too hard. Every time I went out, I thought I would find my dad and take him home, and it seemed like we were getting closer to him but no one could find him,” Siksik said.
The hamlet announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that its search and rescue team, alongside David Siksik’s wife Alice Siksik, agreed to call off the search.
“We have no choice, and we accept it,” Allen said, adding that his father prepared him for tough situations in life. “He told me to be strong for my family and my loved ones.”
Allen said his family is grateful for the community’s efforts, with some searchers overnighting on the land in stormy weather.
On Facebook, the hamlet said the search could continue this winter, with specialized equipment to look beneath the ice. Aerial searches are expected to resume in the spring if David Siksik is not found.
Hunters and fishers travelling anywhere on the island this winter can have half their fuel costs covered if they agree to watch for signs of David Siksik or his Honda, the hamlet’s post said.
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