Hundreds of volunteers are searching for two young women who have seemingly disappeared without a trace in separate incidents in Manitoba.
The volunteers joined forces with the Manitoba Search and Rescue Association on Saturday to look for Amber McFarland, 24, and Jennifer Catcheway, 18, both of Portage la Prairie, Man.
McFarland was last seen in Portage la Prairie in the early hours of Oct. 18, and was reported missing the next day after she didn't show up for a shift at a local Mark's Work Wearhouse.
Catcheway was last seen June 19, around the time of her 18th birthday. Police received tips from the public and in July made two arrests in connection with her disappearance, but later released both suspects without laying charges against them, RCMP Sgt. Line Karpish told CTV.ca Saturday.
They also searched for Catcheway in an area near Gypsumville, Man., more than 250 kilometres north of Portage la Prairie, but they have found no sign of the missing teenager.
MSRA operations manager George Leonard said his organization had 267 volunteers assisting in search efforts on Saturday morning, and more than 300 taking part in the afternoon.
His organization has been searching for Catcheway since she first disappeared, and in the case of McFarland, they began their search a week and a half ago.
At present, they are looking for both women at the same time.
"They seem to overlap somewhat even though we don't believe they're related," Kapish told CTV.ca on Saturday.
Since Oct. 23, the MSRA-led search efforts have searched the area within 16 km of Portage la Prairie, he said.
Leonard said searchers are looking for any clues that they can link to the missing women.
"As far as we know, we've found evidence and articles that we believe (are pertinent to the investigation), but we have to forward them to the RCMP to find out if any of that is valid," he said.
'We've never quit'
The MSRA intends to continue searching with a large number of volunteers on Sunday, and then they will "reassess" their plans, Leonard said.
"We don't quit, we've never quit," he said. "Tomorrow will be our last major search and then we'll go back to where we'll do our small searches, then once we have information we might hold another large search."
Karpish said police were not taking part in Saturday's search because they have no information to suggest where McFarland might be.
"We have had some information from the public but clearly we still need it because we don't have her back," she said.
"Every piece of information is a piece of the puzzle and we need a good many of them to get the picture."
Karpish said police have been told it is "very uncharacteristic" of McFarland to have been absent from work.
She would not say where McFarland was last seen.
In the case of Catcheway's disappearance, Karpish said they haven't turned up any trace of the missing teenager since she went missing four-and-a-half months ago.
"We've been looking for her ever since," Karpish said.
Anyone with information about either woman is asked to call Portage la Prairie RCMP at 204-857-4445 or to call Manitoba Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
