OPP call off search for missing Toronto woman

The search for 20-year-old Christina Calayca has been called off by provincial police, nearly three weeks after she disappeared in the woods of northwestern Ontario.

Police say they have found little evidence of Calayca's movement in the dense brush of Rainbow Falls Provincial Park located on the north shore of Lake Superior.

"The terrain that we're dealing with in this park is extremely rugged. There are areas such as very high cliff faces that have been searched at the top and have been searched at the bottom,'' Sgt. Deb Tully told CTV News on Thursday in a phone interview.

"But there are some areas on the face themselves that were inaccessible."

Calayca was camping with her cousin and two men she knew from a Christian youth group when she decided to go for a jog in the woods at 6:30 a.m. on Aug. 6.

Authorities suspect the woman lost her way in the bush.

Christina's large extended family had been camped out near Thunder Bay, Ont., since the search began, anxiously awaiting news of her whereabouts.

Family members were "surprised" the search was called off and say they could begin a search of their own.

"They didn't find anything yet, there is no clue and then they called off the search," Christina's uncle Danilo Salamat told CTV News on Thursday.

"The family is talking like maybe if they call off the search -- maybe we're going to do our own search. That's what we do; we're still going to look for her," Salamat said.

Earlier this week, police focused their search efforts on looking for a "non-responsive person" after no signs of movement were found by either police or volunteers.

A helicopter search and infrared camera scan failed to penetrate the dense forest canopy. Two police officers were injured and a search dog was even lost in the woods.

Midway through the search, police found a footprint that they tried to match to Calayca, but the imprint could not be directly linked to the missing daycare worker.

Police say foul play is not suspected in Calayca's disappearance.

Sgt. Tully said although police have investigated the majority of tips, if additional information is found, another search could begin.

With a report from CTV's Janice Golding