RCMP say five boaters missing since Friday evening have been found alive.
The group left Pine Dock, on the west side of Lake Winnipeg, at around 7:30 p.m. and were heading north up the lake to Poplar River.
Josephine Hansen said her son Stewart, his girlfriend, Sadie Bergman, and her three nieces, Natasha Wellman, Twyla Bruce and Ashley Batenchuk were heading to the First Nation for Treaty Days.
She said her nieces have 12 children among the three of them, ranging in age from a few months to 13 years old.
She didn’t give up hope that they would be found because her son, who was driving the boat, is a commercial fisherman and knows the lake well.
Hansen told CBC News by phone from Poplar River that her brother-in-law went to meet the group Friday night to guide them to shore, but they never showed up. She said she went out with her brother-in-law the next day and when they couldn’t find them, they called the coast guard.
Boats, float planes, helicopters and a Hercules aircraft were all involved in the search, RCMP said.
At around 2 p.m. Monday, RCMP tweeted the news that the group had been found.
The boaters have been safely located. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/rcmpmb?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#rcmpmb</a> thanks the public and the media for their assistance.
—@rcmpmb
Hansen posted a thank you on her Facebook page to all of the volunteers who came by boat to help. There were searchers from Berens River, Jackhead, Matheson Island and Grand Rapids, she said.
Poplar River is approximately 350 kilometres north of Winnipeg and only accessible by air or water.