For most Canadians Thanksgiving Day came October 11, but to residents of the Fishing Lake Metis Settlement, it was just another frustrating and fruitless day of searching for three missing teenagers, Roxanne Nicklom, 16, Brandy Gregg, 13, and Danny Tokohopie, 14, who had disappeared eight days earlier. Thanksgiving came much later, on Wednesday, October 27, when an RCMP helicopter crew spotted the trio, alive but suffering from exposure, on the beach of a small island across Frog Lake from the settlement.
After being airlifted to Elk Point Hospital and reunited with their greatly relieved families, the teens told their story of survival without warm clothing or supplies for more than three weeks.
A bright autumn Sunday, October 3, saw the three setting out from the settlement on foot along the shore of Frog Lake, to meet Brandy’s aunt for a picnic at Riel Beach. When they discovered a paddle boat along the shore, however, they thought riding might be easier than walking. It wasn’t. Pedaling the machine across the wide expanse proved quite tiring, although they took turns, and when they came abreast of a small island near the west shore, they decided to stop and rest. Returning after a brief exploration of the island, they were horrified to find the improperly secured craft had drifted away, leaving them stranded.
At that point, the three did not worry. Surely someone would come looking for them when they did not arrive at the picnic. When they were not rescued by nightfall, they built a fire and sat down to wait. And wait. And wait.
“We all stuck together every step of the way.” Danny Tokohopie
Days turned to weeks, and the three were still waiting. They had found a pot, a frying pan and other utensils on the beach, but these were of little use with nothing to cook, until they had eaten all the rose hips and berries, they could venture out in the cold to find, and were reduced to boiling leaves and roots to obtain nourishment. Attempts to catch birds and a squirrel and to club a beaver were fruitless.
Their only lighter quit after three days, so they had to keep the fire going constantly. Since the weather was pleasant when they left home, the girls were lightly dressed, wearing t-shirts, sweatshirts and shorts. Danny wore jeans and a jean jacket, which the trio shared when they had to go out foraging for wood and food. They moved their campsite into the bush after the first night, and constructed a crude shelter, but rain and snow complicated matters and the shelter did little to ward off the increasing cold. They spent their nights huddled close to the fire, trying to sleep, and received numerous burns to hands, feet and Brandy’s hair in the process.
Constructing a shelter and starting fires with a single match were skills Roxanne had learned back in Grade 7 Outdoor Education, but had never anticipated needing to put to use. Brandy had been taught about edible berries by her aunt and uncle, and had done a lot of berry picking. Danny had lived with his uncle’s family where he shared the fire building duties, and was also aware of what wild foods could be garnered.
“Their survival is nothing short of a miracle.” Marilyn Gregg
In attempts to make their own way back to shore, the trio built four rafts, tying them together with shoelaces and strips torn from one pair of shorts, and pounding one together with discarded nails they had found, but the rafts either fell apart or wouldn't float. “We thought about swimming every day,” but although both Roxanne and Brandy are strong swimmers, the water was just too cold to make an attempt to cross the approximate 300 meter stretch to the west bank of the lake. They had found and inflated an inner-tube, and had decided the night before they were rescued that if no one came, Roxanne would attempt to float to shore on the tube Wednesday night.
Back on shore, families and friends searched unceasingly. There were days when Charles Daniels, for example, “didn’t do anything but look.” Reports that someone had seen the youths getting into a car prompted searches in Edmonton and as far away as BC. Settlement residents walked the bush to no avail.
On several occasions, smoke was seen on the island, but this was dismissed as coming from brush piles lit earlier in the summer on a larger nearby island. Brandy’s mother, Marilyn Gregg, thought she saw fires on the island “but I couldn’t get anyone to go look - everyone said the kids had no way to get over there.” She saw dogs looking out toward the islands and barking, as if they heard something, but her calls and whistles across the lake drew no response The absence of the paddle boat was finally reported to the RCMP on October 26, along with a report that three youths had been seen on the beach October 3. The search with an RCMP boat and the helicopter was launched at that time, and was resumed the next morning, finally locating the teens. “They didn’t see us the first time they went over with the helicopter, although we screamed and waved,” Roxanne said. “We were camping in the bush, to stay out of the wind.”’ Wednesday morning, the three went to the beach when they heard the helicopter, and were spotted.
The rescue came just in time. Temperatures fell far below zero the next night and snow blanketed the area. Also, the three had lost significant amounts of body weight during their ordeal, and attending physician Dr. Drew Ramful said he doubted they would have survived much longer.
Roxanne’s parents, Evelyn and Allan Nicklom of Valleyview, were in Elk Point Friday to take their daughter back to her home community for further hospitalization. On the way home, Roxanne was lobbying for stops for Kentucky fried chicken and Chinese food.
All three want to extend special thanks to all who took part in the search, and to those who made their stay in the hospital more pleasant. They thanked the RCMP for their efforts, and all the searchers for not giving up hope that they would be found.
The shared concern kept the community searching, said Rose Chalifoux. ‘From here on, we'll all be making sure the community stays a little closer.”
