Reindeer Lake lodge owner files RCMP complaint over damage

SOUTHEND, Sask. -- Police are looking into damage at a northern Saskatchewan fishing lodge believed to have been used by five missing teens while they waited to be rescued.

RCMP spokeswoman Mandy Maier said the owner of the wilderness lodge filed an official complaint with Southend RCMP on Thursday.

Searchers rescued four boys and one girl on Monday from an island on Reindeer Lake and returned them to their homes in Southend.

Messages relayed to the teens' families through community members have not been returned. Simon Jobb, a local councillor with the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, said Friday that a press release may be issued soon.

An extensive search was organized when the teenagers, who are between 13 and 17 years old, failed to return on time last week from a moose-hunting trip.

Police said during the search that a private lodge had been broken into and survival supplies taken.

Lodge owner Kelly Littlechilds has said two employees found that doors had been kicked in, and fishing gear, clothing and all-terrain vehicles were out of place.

"As far as we know, there has definitely been some unnecessary damage," he said on Tuesday. "Obviously when you have a lodge on an island in the middle of nowhere it takes a lot of work to build that up to where we have it right now.

"If there is any damage up there, we look at it pretty seriously," he said. "It takes a lot of time, effort and money to not only haul everything up there and rebuild, but it's a labour of love."

The facility includes a main building and about 30 cabins. He said some of the buildings have food inside and they are left unlocked for anyone who might be lost.

"There's food and stuff like that so they didn't need to be in everything else that we had closed up, let alone drag things out and make a mess," he said.

Maier said no charges have been laid.

Reindeer Lake is Saskatchewan's second-largest lake at more than 6,650 square kilometres and numerous islands and bays. The community of Southend is the end of Highway 102, which is the only road access to the lake.

--- by Clare Clancy in Regina