The parents of a missing five-year-old boy from Saskatchewan First Nation are “totally devastated,” but are appreciative of all the support, says Chief Marcel Head of the nearby Shoal Lake Cree Nation.

Head told reporters the parents are not prepared to speak publicly, but they “would like to express their thanks,” to those committed to the search. 

Frank Young disappeared from the front yard of his home on the Red Earth Cree Nation on April 19th. Dozens of volunteers from nine different crews have since arrived to the community to assist in the search, which entered its fourth day on Friday. 

RCMP, various First Nations and municipalities, as well as a multitude of other organizations and individual volunteers from Saskatchewan and Manitoba have flooded into Red Earth to provide food and supplies or aid in the search efforts. 

An RCMP plane with high resolution cameras conducted aerial searches for 6 hours on Thursday, Sgt. Richard Tonge of Carrot River RCMP said during a press conference. They are specifically looking for blue items, as Frank was last seen wearing a blue windbreaker jacket before he disappeared.

The large-scale ground search and canine team have been following up, but there have been no successful leads. 

“We have one common goal and that is to find Frank Young,” Sgt. Tonge said. 

The Prince Albert Grand Council’s (PAGC) search and rescue boats equipped with sonar and the RCMP Underwater Recovery Team continued to search the river nearby Frank’s home on Thursday. Michelle Vandevord, president of PAGC’s search, rescue, and recovery team, said they are committed to working until Frank is found.

“Our team has been working side by side with community leads and the RCMP Search Manager,” she said. “It’s so very difficult to be searching for someone you know and love.”

Anyone with information on the disappearance of Frank Young is asked to call 911 or Carrot River RCMP detachment.