CANADA • James Gregory LEE, 19 ~ Grande Prairie AB

September 05, 2011 - Police are asking for the public's help in locating a teenager who went missing from a camp site south of Grande Prairie.

RCMP say 19-year-old James Gregory Lee was last seen walking away from the campground. Police say his direction of travel is not known.

Lee is described as:

• Caucasian
• 6'0" tall
• 150 lbs
• Short brown hair
• Hazel eyes
• Last seen wearing a brown hoodie, blue jeans and running shoes

Anyone with information is asked to call the Grande Prairie RCMP at 780-830-5700

http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110905/edm_missing_110905/20110905/?hub=EdmontonHome

September 8, 2011 - The Grande Prairie RCMP, Technical Search and Rescue personnel from Grande Prairie, Valleyview, Grande Cache as well as Sustainable Resource Development members continue their search of the Smoky River and area for 19 year old James Gregory LEE of Grande Prairie.

LEE was last seen walking away from a camp site at Smokey Flats, 40 kms south of Grande Prairie at approximately 5:00 a.m. on Sunday September 4, 2011.

Friends and family are also involved in search efforts.

If you have any information on the current whereabouts of James LEE, please call the Grande Prairie RCMP Detachment at (780) 830-5700.

http://www.cityofgp.com/citygov/dept/rcmp/spotlights/20110908rcmpgpdetupdate3missingperson.htm

Family Of Missing Grande Prairie Teen Appeals For Volunteers
September 13, 2011

As the search for a missing Grande Prairie teen is into its ninth day, the family of 19-year old James Gregory Lee is hoping some "experienced bush men" or local hunters familiar with the terrain around the Smoky Flats can volunteer some time to the search.

Grande Prairie RCMP say the search for Lee--missing since September 4th--remains active, and crews were out with the boat and helicopter this past weekend.

Lee walked away from a campsite and hasn't been seen since.

A spokesman for the family says volunteers are gathering at Smoky Flats at noon each day and again at four o'clock.

http://hqgrandeprairie.com/news/local/news/Local/11/09/13/Family-Of-Missing-Grande-Prairie-Teen-Appeals-For-Volunteers

GP RCMP To Make Announcement On Missing Teen
September 15, 2011

Grande Prairie RCMP say they will release important information tomorrow (Friday Sept 16) in the case of a missing local teen.

The search for James Gregory Lee is into Day 11.

Police are using ground crews with the help of a police dog as well as getting a boat in the water to comb through the Smoky River.

Lee is described as white, about 6-feet-tall, 150-pounds with short brown hair and hazel eyes.

Anyone with information is asked to call the local RCMP Detachment.

http://hqgrandeprairie.com/news/local/news/Local/11/09/15/GP-RCMP-To-Make-Announcement-On-Missing-Teen/

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Missing Person: Jamie Lee

GP Mounties Continue Search For Missing Teen, But Say Operation Will Be Scaled Back
September 16, 2011

After nearly two weeks of fruitless searching south of Grande Prairie and no new leads, the RCMP say their efforts to find a missing teen will have to be reduced as they don't have the resources to divert to the operation.



Officer In Charge at the detachment, Inspector Andy Seideman says the search for James Gregory Lee is continuing, but with 11 days having passed and no sign of the 19-year old, efforts will have to be scaled back.

The news did not sit well with volunteers and friends of Lee's family, who say they're devastated and trying to cope.

Lee has not been seen since he left a campsite at the Smoky Flats in the early morning of September 4th.

A dog handler will be in this weekend and a helicopter will also be scanning the region around the Smoky Flats from the air.

http://hqgrandeprairie.com/home/news/Local/11/09/16/GP-Mounties-Continue-Search-For-Missing-Teen-But-Say-Operation-Will-Be-Scaled-Back/

Grande Prairie family hires searchers to find teen
September 22, 2011

The family of a missing 19-year-old from Grande Prairie has hired a professional search team to help find the young man.

James Lee walked away from a campsite at Smokey Flats, 40 kilometers south of Grande Prairie, at about 5 a.m. Sunday, September 4.



All his family knows is that Lee wanted to go home, but wasn't fit to drive and his friends wouldn't give him the keys to his car," said family spokesman Garry Thate. "So he left."

Lee is 6' tall, 150 lbs, was wearing a brown hoodie, blue jeans and running shoes.

Police searched on foot, by airplane and boat.

A piece of Lee's identification was later found on the access road into the campsite.

On Wednesday the RCMP told the family they are no longer investigating the disappearance unless new information surfaces, said Thate.

That prompted the family to hire a team with specialized tracking dogs, he said.

"The RCMP have specialized, sniffer dogs for drugs and they can get cadaver dogs, that sort of thing," he said. "Unless they have a zeroed-in area, very specific, (they aren't) of much value.

"These other dogs, they are."

The team will arrive in Grande Prairie Sunday and will search for two days, at a cost of $3,500, said Thate.

A trust fund has been set up at the TD bank.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/story/2011/09/22/edmonton-grande-prairie-lee-search.html

September 22, 2011 - Update #5 – Missing Person Investigation Continues – LEE

Grande Prairie RCMP, Technical Search and Rescue, family and volunteers continue the search for 19 year old James Gregory LEE who was last seen at 5:00 a.m. on Sunday September 4, 2011 walking away from a camp site at Smokey Flats, 40 km south of Grande Prairie.

Police have received and continue to investigate tips; none of which have produced results to help determine LEE’s whereabouts. RCMP would like ALL groups and individuals who were camping in that area during the weekend of September 2 to September 4th, to contact the local detachment at 780-830-5700. Additionally, others who may have been driving in the area such as truckers are asked to contact the detachment or Crime Stoppers with any information.

The Smokey Flats area is popular for hunters and recreational users for activities such as quadding. Anyone in the area is asked to look for indicators of LEE being in the area. He was last seen wearing a brown hoodie, blue jeans and Adidas running shoes (photos of a similar shoe attached). LEE is described as :
- Caucasian male,
- Approximately 6’0″ tall
- 150 lb.
- short brown hair
- hazel eyes

RCMP say that since LEE’s disappearance, ground searchers have covered a 2.5 km radius of the campground as well as cut lines, oil lease roads and the railway tracks from Grande Prairie to 25 km south of the Smokey Flats. The area has been searched by air as well as water, with police logging in excess of 20 hours on the river. Police say that the search has been scaled back; meaning a reduction of RCMP resources searching; yet continue with officers dedicated to the overall investigation.

If you have information about this missing person or a crime in the Grande Prairie area, call Grande Prairie RCMP Detachment at 780-830-5700, or if you want to remain anonymous, you can contact Crime Stoppers by phone at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), by internet at www.tipsubmit.com, or by SMS (check your local Crime Stoppers [www.crimestoppers.ab.ca] for instructions on how).

At Crime Stoppers, you do not need to reveal your identity. Crime Stoppers does not subscribe to Call Display, Call Trace or tape any phone calls.

We want your tip, not your name.

http://lacreteonline.com/missing-person-investigation-continues-for-james-gregory-lee/

Search for James Gregory Lee Continues - CTV Edmonton
September 23, 2011

September 22, 2011 - Grande Prairie RCMP, Technical Search and Rescue, family and volunteers continue the search for 19 year old James Gregory LEE who was last seen at 5:00 a.m. on Sunday September 4, 2011 walking away from a camp site at Smokey Flats, 40 km south of Grande Prairie.


Smokey Flats campground area (circled in red) where LEE was last seen.

The Smokey Flats area is popular for hunters and recreational users for activities such as quadding. Anyone in the area is asked to look for indicators of LEE being in the area.

LEE is described as caucasian male, approximately 6'0" tall, 150 lbs, short brown hair and hazel eyes.



He was last seen wearing a brown hoodie, blue jeans and Adidas running shoes similar to the image below.



If you have information about this missing person or a crime in the Grande Prairie area, call Grande Prairie RCMP Detachment at 780-830-5700, or if you want to remain anonymous, you can contact Crime Stoppers by phone at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), by internet at www.tipsubmit.com, or by SMS (check your local Crime Stoppers [www.crimestoppers.ab.ca] for instructions on how).

At Crime Stoppers, you do not need to reveal your identity. Crime Stoppers does not subscribe to Call Display, Call Trace or tape any phone calls.

Jamie’s still out there


Posters like this one (above) can be seen throughout the city and at the Smoky
Flats campground Lee went missing close to a month ago.

The professional search team brought in to scour the Smoky Flats area for missing local teen Jamie Lee came up empty handed, but it's what they didn't find that means the most.

"There is no body," family spokesperson Garry Thate said of the search results that came up negative but turned out to be positive."

They said the dogs would have found the body if there had been a body."

The Camrose-based search team – which spent Sunday and Monday in the Smoky Flats – utilized two search dogs and professional expertise to comb the densely forested area south of the city where Lee was last seen Sept. 4 with few results.

"They have informed (us) that Jamie is not in the central area of the campsite in the valley," Thate said.

"They are 95% sure of it."

And while Thate said the professionals not finding a body offers a glimmer of hope, a lot of questions remain as to where Lee is.

"That's where they left off and I think (Lee's mother) felt pretty good about that," Thate said. "We've gone through this area with a fine-toothed comb and we've found nothing."

According to Thate, with confidence Lee is not in the wooded Smoky Flats area, family and friends are left to wonder whether the 19-year-old wound up in the waters of the Smoky River, or whether he got lost trying to find a way back to the city.

With Sunday marking a month since Lee went missing, Thate said the official search for Lee will come to an end.

"The official search on our part will end Sunday night," he said. "But that of course doesn't mean that we're not going to keep looking."

Thate said searchers will make one last sweep of the area over the weekend, and a horse riding club from Grovedale will follow the train tracks from the Smoky Flats to the Kakwa River and north towards Grande Prairie.

Read more

Reward offered to find missing teen

The family of missing teen Jamie Lee is offering a reward for his safe return home.

"The family would like to announce that they're offering a $10,000 reward for his return. Details on how this reward will be paid out will be announced in the near future," said Garry Thate, a family friend who spoke on their behalf.

The announcement was made at a candlelight vigil held at Muskoseepi Park on Friday night. People gathered to pay their respects and light a candle for Lee, who went missing from the Smoky Flats campground on Sept. 4.

Money for the reward will come from the trust fund set up in Lee's name.

"It's for Jamie coming back to the family," Thate said. "We're a little bit short, but I'm confident with the way the previous week has gone, the money will be there."

As the sun set over the park, Thate thanked the crowd of friends, family and some strangers and answered the question that most people must be thinking.

"Their pain is horrible. It's absolutely horrible," he said. "But their family has not only lost a son, our community has lost a son. Without our son, we all lose."

READ MORE

http://www.findjamie.com/