Nelson House teacher disappearance 'devastating' for family friends

An outdoor education teacher is missing in Nelson House, Man.

David MacDonald has been missing since Thursday afternoon, said Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation Chief Marcel Moody.

The RCMP dive team and search and rescue crews are heading to the community Saturday after snowmobile tracks were discovered heading onto thin ice on Osik Lake near MacDonald's trapline, the chief said Friday.

MacDonald has been a teacher in the northern Manitoba community, primarily in outdoor and cultural education, for years, said Moody.

"[He's] just a really happy guy — positive," said family friend Natashia Moodie. MacDonald is close friends with her father, Lou Moodie, she said.

"It's devastating for our family."

​On Thursday, MacDonald made the roughly 45-minute trip by skidoo to a cabin on an island in Osik Lake. Her father was planning to meet him later, she said.

"Both of them just really loved being out at camp," she said.

"I don't know how or why he went out by himself."

Moodie said her parents travelled by helicopter to Osik Lake on Saturday with a pair of friends to search for MacDonald.

"We're just hoping and praying that he's found safe," she said.

Chief Marcel Moody said the lake ice is deceptive right now.

"It's iced over, but it's not safe for people to use the ice. The ice is not thick enough," Moody said on Friday. "It's probably safe along the shoreline, but in terms of where there's currents, it's absolutely not safe." 

He estimates the ice is less than an inch thick in some areas, due to recent freezing rain and thaws. 

"It could trick a lot of people. Even the best trapper might be fooled," he said. 

Searchers, including RCMP, will meet at the band office at 10 a.m. Saturday to make a search plan, including searching where the tracks were spotted.

Moodie expected RCMP divers to begin searching the lake on Sunday.