The missing posters for Amber Manthorne are starting to fade, but the drive of volunteers trying to find her has not.
On Saturday, friends, family and complete strangers spent the day in Port Alberni and Nanaimo searching for any sign of the 40-year-old woman, who has been missing for more than two weeks now.
“Some people can’t stop searching,” said Kristie St. Claire, friend and search organizer.
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Manthorne, a bubbly and happy woman, was last seen at her Great Central Lake cabin on July 7 — reportedly telling a friend she was about to meet with her ex-boyfriend Justin Hall.
The 40-year-old was reported missing the next day when she didn’t show up for work. Her white Jeep Compass was later found on a logging road south of Nanaimo, more than 100 kilometres away from the cabin.
Originally Hall disappeared but surfaced days later and was interviewed by RCMP and told CHEK News he had nothing to do with her disappearance.
“I did not hurt my girlfriend. I do not know why she isn’t back home. After our argument, I panicked, and I just wanted to get away from everyone,” he wrote in an e-mail to CHEK News.
RELATED: Search expands for Port Alberni woman missing since last week
Saturday’s search effort focused Beaver Creek area, near Manthorne’s home. Some searched trails, others searched bodies of water.
“We want things double-checked at this point to be sure and also time has passed things may have surfaced,” said St. Claire. “Anywhere and everywhere, whether it’s large bodies of water, small ponds.”
Volunteers in Nanaimo were focused on an area near where Manthorne’s Jeep was found.
“The outcome that most people are looking at now is not a good one but there’s a lot of people that still have their fingers crossed,” said Harry Brossault, a friend of Manthorne.
RELATED: Volunteers comb backroads, lakes in search for missing Port Alberni woman Amber Manthorne
Since the 40-year-old went missing there have been numerous search efforts to find her. Last Saturday, more than a hundred people used trucks, ATVs, drones and kayaks to comb through vast swaths of land and water spanning from the Alberni Valley to Nanaimo.
“I have two daughters and I would expect an army to come out and find my kids,” said Brossault.
Two weeks after she first went missing and countless searches, the situation has taken its toll on many of the volunteers, who call themselves “Amber’s Army.”
“We’re all a little tired. We’ve had to pull back some of our friends that have been in this really deeply and emotionally since day one. We’ve asked them to just step back for a while and take a break while we continue to use the resources that are fresh,” said St. Claire.
Organizers, however, plan to continue their search efforts in Nanaimo and Port Alberni again on Sunday.
RELATED: ‘Amber’s Army’ starts new search for missing Port Alberni woman at Nanaimo gravel pit
Amber Manthorne, 40, of Port Alberni was reported missing on the morning of July 8 when she didn’t show up for work. (Photo supplied)
Skye Ryan
