Cooper Nemeth search expands to new Winnipeg neighbourhoods

Members of Cooper Nemeth's family are still looking for volunteers to help in the search for the missing 17-year-old.

On Thursday night volunteers handed out flyers in Transcona, St. Boniface and Windsor Park. On Friday volunteers will meet in the morning to door knock in Sage Creek, Southdale, Corydon and Osborne. 

Members of the Winnipeg Police Service ground search and rescue unit and police volunteers have been searching north of the Perimeter Highway along Henderson Highway, police said in a news release. The search is being done as part of on-going police training, the force said.

Nemeth's aunt, Laresa Sayles, said the family is grasping at straws and following any tip that comes in from the public.

The search for Nemeth moved from northeast Winnipeg to downtown on Wednesday night because the family got a tip that he might have been seen near Siloam Mission on Princess Street.

• Search for Cooper Nemeth expands into downtown Winnipeg
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The family wants help specifically from people in Selkirk and Lockport.

"We ask those communities to help us if they can," Sayles said.

"I'm a nurse. I'm a realist. I cope … we're trained to cope with these kind of things and understand how this works, and at this point … we know what the end result is going to be. So, as a family, we're trying to deal with that right now. I mean, we're still hoping that he's still alive."

The focus of the search includes campsites, parks, brush and areas with trees near the rivers.

Sayles said it hurts the family to acknowledge there is less of a chance of finding Nemeth alive with every day that goes by.

"We don't as a family have any solid facts or truths, besides what the police released yesterday about searching for this Brittany and Derek," Sayles said, adding she's never heard of them and the names don't sound familiar. Police said they want to speak with the two, who were thought to be using a white Honda Civic.

At this point, the family just wants closure, Sayles said.

Last seen Sunday

Nemeth, a River East Collegiate student, was last reported seen during the early hours of Sunday, Feb. 14, at a party in the Sun Valley area.

He's six feet tall, 170 pounds, of average build and with brown hair and eyes. He was wearing a black jacket with a River East Marauders hockey logo on the front, black pants and brown skater runners.

A Twitter account dedicated to bringing Nemeth home put out a tweet asking everyone to stop wearing Marauders clothing during the search.

That way, people will not mistakenly think other young men in such jackets are Nemeth, Sayles said.

Those who want to help search are asked to go to Gateway Community Centre, where streets and search areas will be assigned.

Anyone with information about Nemeth is asked to call police at 204-986-6250.