By Canadian Press

Provincial police suspend aerial search for missing businessman, son

Jul 22, 2019 | 10:24 AM

MONTREAL — Quebec provincial police are suspending helicopter searches today for a Quebec businessman and his teen son missing for 12 days somewhere in a vast area of the upper Laurentians.

Police say the investigation is ongoing, and they aren’t ruling out returning to the air if investigators are able to narrow the search area.

Stephane Roy, the founder and president of Les Serres Sagami, and his 14-year-old son Justin have not been seen since July 10, when they failed to return as planned from a fishing trip.

Despite a week of searching from the air, there has been no trace of Roy’s missing Robinson R-44 white helicopter.

Police spokesman Claude Doiron says it is unclear where the search should be focused, so police are asking hikers or vacationers in the woods to keep an eye out for anything that might help the investigation move ahead.

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Roy’s brother, Daniel, says he hasn’t given up hope that his brother and nephew are still alive, and he wants the police to search on the ground. Volunteers are continuing to search from above using private helicopters.

The provincial police decision follows a move by the Canadian Forces to wind down their air search on Sunday.

The case is now being investigated by provincial police as a missing persons matter.

The search area spanned nearly 20,000 square kilometres at first — a densely wooded area with rocky terrain and several lakes. Daniel Roy says that area has been scaled down considerably.

Because the missing helicopter had no flight plan and no distress signal was detected, aside from some cellular data, there’s limited information about the route taken from Lac de la Bidiere west of La Tuque, Que., to Ste-Sophie, where Roy lived.

Roy’s company produces greenhouse-grown tomatoes and other produce under the Sagami and Savoura brands.

The Canadian Press