Manitoba·NewA 19-year-old man who went missing in a northern Manitoba First Nation on the weekend has been found dead.Dozens of volunteers join RCMP in land, water search for River Ross, whose body was found on TuesdayCBC News · Posted: Oct 29, 2025 4:52 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesA 19-year-old Pimicikamak Cree Nation man was found dead in Cross Lake, days after he was last seen in the community, which is more than 500 kilometres north of Winnipeg. (HTFC Planning and Design)A 19-year-old man who went missing in a northern Manitoba First Nation on the weekend has been found dead. The body of River Ross was pulled from the water in Pimicikamak Cree Nation on Tuesday after about 50 volunteers joined police in a search operation that combed through land and water in the community, located on the shore of Cross Lake about 530 kilometres north of Winnipeg, Chief David Monias told CBC News.”Our worst fears came to reality. We were still hopeful that … he was still alive somewhere,” Monias said. The search began on Sunday when Manitoba RCMP received a report just before 5 a.m. from a group of people on the shoreline who said they could hear someone near or possibly in the water. Officers combed the area while the local fire department helped with the water search, but no one was seen or heard at the time, RCMP said in a statement.Pimicikamak Cree Nation Chief David Monias says about 50 volunteers joined the RCMP and other first responders in the search for River Ross this week. (David A Monias/Facebook)Mounties then put up a drone with infrared capabilities to locate a heat source, but still didn’t find anyone.Around 2:40 p.m. on Sunday, police received a report of a missing 19-year-old man from Pimicikamak who was last seen on Saturday night, leaving a Halloween event. Volunteers joined local firefighters, the RCMP and other people from the community in a search for Ross, Monias said.About 20 boats were deployed while other volunteers combed through weeds and bushes along the shoreline on Monday and Tuesday. A group of residents cooked for those who were searching, Monias said. “Pimicikamak is a very close-knit community. When something goes wrong, the whole community pitches in, one way or the other,” Monias said. “They always come together, when there’s some help required.” Volunteers found Ross’s body between the Northmart store and Wapak Road on Tuesday afternoon, Monias said. RCMP confirmed the man’s body was pulled from the water around 3 p.m. “This community has been doing a lot of praying,” Monias said. “People have been knowing what it’s like and then standing together.” Criminal activity is not suspected in the man’s death, but the investigation into how he may have ended up in the water continues as RCMP wait for autopsy results, the news release said.With files from Santiago Arias Orozco
Missing man from Pimicikamak Cree Nation found dead, body recovered from Cross Lake: Manitoba RCMP
