The mayor of Kimmirut, Nunavut, hasn't been heard from since he went hunting on Saturday, and blizzard conditions are making it difficult for police and volunteer search-and-rescue crews to look for him.
"Everyone's concerned, of course, and very supportive. The majority of people who can help are out there helping," said RCMP Cpl. Larry Olson.
Kimmirut, a town of just over 400 people on the Hudson Strait, is a tight-knit community, said Olson, and Jamesie Kootoo has been the mayor for several years. Olson knows him personally.
Blizzard conditions put the search on hold Tuesday, and have hampered its progress every other day, said Olson. An aerial search on Wednesday morning turned up nothing.
Kootoo, 67, left for a caribou hunt on Saturday and was expected back later in the day. Olson said Kootoo only had "limited supplies" on him.
"He was last seen Saturday afternoon by another hunter out on the land, but he was the only one not to come back," Pitsiula Michael, a member of Kimmirut's search-and-rescue team, told Nunatsiaq Online. "We spotted tracks on Sunday but there was fresh snow falling and we couldn't follow the trail anymore."
