THUNDER BAY – September 28, 2026 – Nishnawbe Aski Nation chiefs have voted to stand up an Indigenous-led search-and-rescue pilot after five missing people were found dead in Thunder Bay this spring — three of them from NAN communities — and after volunteer searchers said city police sidelined them on the ground.
The resolution came Thursday at NAN’s annual Keewaywin Conference. The 49-nation organization wants a unit, NAN SAR, that would run search co-ordination, trained personnel and volunteers, family support and crisis response when a NAN member is reported missing in the region. There is no start date.
Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler said communities can no longer rely only on the Thunder Bay Police Service. “The system as it currently exists, it is not respectful to the family, it’s not respectful to our communities, it is not respectful to the volunteers that come from our communities to assist in these search efforts.”
The names that drove the vote are public. Ashlynn Bottle, 23, and Nodin Skunk, 25, of Mishkeegogamang First Nation were last seen April 26. Volunteer searchers found them in a derelict grain elevator three days after police had ruled that site out, Fiddler said. Kelsey Anderson, 36, of Webequie First Nation was also found dead. Families said police posted a final update on Anderson before they were notified. Searchers looking for Anderson also found a fourth person, Richard Graham.
Indigenous crews in orange, not the force, located most of the remains. Fiddler accused police of telling searchers to stay out of the elevators and of treating traditional methods as an afterthought. Thunder Bay’s chief and NAN traded public barbs in May and June. The 2016 inquest into seven First Nations youth who died in the city had already flagged riverfront cameras and how missing-person files are handled. Those recommendations did not prevent this spring.
NAN SAR would not replace the OPP or Nishnawbe Aski Police. It would put a First Nations desk in charge when a member goes missing in Thunder Bay or on the highways and lakes between Treaty 9 communities and the city. Fiddler said the current arrangement is the problem. The chiefs agreed.
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