Efforts to find a missing 40-year-old Port Alberni woman have shifted back to a rural, forested area south of Nanaimo where her 2021 Jeep Compass was found more than a week ago.
After several days of scouring the area near Amber Manthorne’s home outside Port Alberni at Great Central Lake, searchers decided to shift their focus to where her vehicle was found, friend Kristie St. Claire said Monday.
Manthorne has been missing since July 7.
“I’m pretty confident that we essentially combed the entire Port Alberni countryside by Saturday,” she said. “I’m feeling better in my heart about finding her alive than I did about a week ago.”
The Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit was called in to assist with the case last week.
St. Claire and others set out on Sunday to the vicinity of the gravel pit near Timberlands and Ninatti roads west of Cassidy where the vehicle turned up.
Hundreds of volunteers, who have been dubbed “Amber’s Army,” are helping with the search, many of them with ATVs, St. Claire said.
Some brought dirt bikes in the back of their trucks so they could cover more ground, she said.
St. Claire said she and a group of friends are keeping things organized.
“We were giving out posters, talking,” she said. “Everyone that stopped and talked to us, or everyone that stopped and parked in the lot, we approached, we gave information, snacks, Gatorade, water.”
People went out on the back roads and checked every street and location they knew, St. Claire said.
Areas that were checked have been marked with flagging tape.
“They showed up and they made phone calls and they networked,” St. Claire said. “I feel really good about the connections we made and all the information is going back to our tip handlers.”
The search organizers have created their own tipline at 250-730-1544, which can also handle texts and screen shots. Emails can be sent to [email protected] and there is a Facebook page at Finding Amber Manthorne.
Port Alberni RCMP can be reached at 250-723-2424.
St. Claire said the core search group is looking at establishing a framework that could benefit others in a similar situation.
Manthorne is described as five-foot-two and 120 pounds with long blond hair and blue eyes. She runs a cleaning company, works at a retail marine store and helps a friend in a photography business. St. Claire has said that it is totally out of character for her to disappear.
She was originally thought to be in the company of Justin Hall, but he has since been located.
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