A press conference was held at the office of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) in Thompson on July 6 with Grand Chief Sydney Garrioch on hand, along with Keewatin Tribal Council Chief Arnold Ouskan, a band councillor from the Manto Sipi Cree Nation, and the RCMP, as well as the family of Christopher James, a 17-year-old Gods River youth who has been missing since July 3.
James was last seen in the early morning hours of July 3 at the Mystery Lake Hotel in Thompson. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black and grey cargo pants, a blue t-shirt and had a shaved head. He is 5'7" inches tall and weighs around 140 pounds.
He has a tattoo of the number '27' on his left forearm, and the number '02' on his right forearm, police said.
Coun. John Ross from the Manto Sipi Cree Nation, who is also James' uncle, says the boy was medevaced to Thompson General Hospital on July 2 due to a drug overdose, and was released from the hospital later that day. Ross says that evening he went missing from the Mystery Lake Hotel where he was with some other people from Gods River. Ross also says that he thinks alcohol was involved and is worried about the combination of drugs and alcohol in the boy's system.
James' father, Bertie James, came to Thompson on July 3 and filed a missing persons report.
"I'd like to plead to the public for Christopher James," he says. "I just want to find my son. I need him to come home."
Sgt. Rob Collen with the Thompson RCMP detachment says that anyone with any information on the whereabouts of James is encouraged to contact the Thompson RCMP at 677-6909.
"No amount of information is too small," he says. "Any bit of information can help. Our investigation is ongoing and we'd like to reach a positive conclusion for the James family."
Ross says other communities such as Cross Lake have been contacted and are also on the look out for James. The family and the RCMP have partnered with MKO and Keewatin Tribal Council to co-ordinate a search.
Ross also points out that James is the fourth person to go missing from Gods River in recent years. Dwayne Ross has been missing since Oct. 1, 2003; Sunshine Wood has been missing since February 2004; and Conrad Hastings has been missing for the last couple of years.
