Manitoba group searching for missing Edmonton teen in the North Saskatchewan River

A group from Manitoba has joined the search for missing teenager Samuel Bird, who was last seen in the west Edmonton neighbourhood of Canora in June.

A group from Manitoba is helping search for Samuel Bird, an Edmonton teen who has been missing for nearly three months.

The Evelyn Memorial Search Team is using a sonar device called Aqua Eye to search the North Saskatchewan River. The device can scan up to five football fields of area at once.

Bird’s mother, Alana, said she’s grateful for the help of the search team.

“It means the world to me because I feel like I’m just one step closer to finding Samuel,” Alana told CTV News Edmonton.

She said the group will be here until Wednesday, but if they don’t find Bird, they’ll extend their stay.

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Edmonton police deemed the 14-year-old’s disappearance suspicious last week, the same day the Confederacy of Treaty No. 6 First Nations called on police to designate Bird’s case as a search and recovery.

Bird is described as 5’8” tall with a slim build. He has brown hair and brown eyes and may have a black-eye and stitches on his cheek and nose.

Police say he is known to frequent West Edmonton Mall and is familiar with the city’s west end and south side. He was last seen in the Canora neighbourhood in west Edmonton on June 1.

Anyone with information about Bird’s whereabouts is asked to contact EPS at 780-423-4567. Anonymous tips can be submitted through Crime Stoppers.

With files from CTV Edmonton’s Nahreman Issa