By Joel van der Veen

KENASTON — With no sign of Sheree Fertuck more than a week after she was last seen, her brother said he and his family are still keeping up hope that she’ll be found soon.

“I gotta keep my head above the water,” Darren Sorotski said Tuesday at Kenaston Place, where more than 80 people gathered to discuss an organized search for Fertuck.

The Kenaston woman and mother of three has been missing since Dec. 7, when she was last seen around 1:30 p.m., leaving the family farmyard east of the village.

A semi truck used by Fertuck to haul gravel was found around 8 a.m. the following day at a gravel pit located off of Highway 15.

Searches undertaken by police, family and local residents since then have failed to turn up any trace of the 51-year-old woman.

Dozens of residents took part in the search effort last week, organizing into parties and combing the rural area east of the village.

Kenaston Place was serving as a registration and co-ordination centre for the search, with meals, water and coffee being provided for volunteers.

EMO co-ordinator Gene Whitehead said Tuesday that the volunteers would cover the area gradually, aiming to complete a thorough search.

“We don’t want to tire everybody out,” he told the group gathered at Kenaston Place. “We have a lot of areas we are covering.”

Staff Sgt. Greg Abbott of the Saskatoon RCMP detachment was present at Tuesday’s meeting, addressing the crowd several times.

He said the police are in full support of the community search efforts and offered guidance and suggestions to those involved.

“You’re looking for anything that can help us understand what happened,” said Abbott, “anything that looks suspicious.”

He advised anyone who finds anything suspicious to contact the search co-ordinators without compromising the scene, adding, “The intent is not to disturb anything that may be evidence to what happened.”

Abbott also said that safety is a priority, noting that the recently-fallen snow may mask the uneven terrain, leaving searchers vulnerable to stumbling over wells, pits or cisterns.

“I know you are all anxious to do whatever you can for the family, and for Sheree,” he said.

He told the crowd on Tuesday that he could not provide any information about the investigation into Fertuck’s disappearance, beyond what has already been made public.

Fertuck is the daughter of Juliann and the late Michael Sorotski of Kenaston, and was living and working from the family farm at the time of her disappearance.

After she was reported missing, the Saskatoon RCMP undertook a ground search of the area with assistance from the police dog unit and other RCMP units.

On Dec. 11, police released an update stating that the case was now being treated as suspicious, given that Sheree was “a person of habit and predictable behaviours.”

Local residents said Tuesday that Fertuck was a familiar face in the district and was regularly seen operating her truck on Highway 15.

“We all wish that this was different,” Whitehead said Tuesday night. “We have enough people to do a good job (of the search).”

Darren Sorotski said that the community has reached out in support in multiple ways since Fertuck’s disappearance, including delivery of hot meals to the family home.

He also spoke positively of the RCMP’s efforts.

Whitehead reminded the searchers to take their time, dress appropriately, take care when operating machinery and to be accountable so that organizers can keep track of who is taking part.

Anyone volunteering is required to check in at Kenaston Place at the start and end of each shift. Updates on the search effort are being provided online at kenaston.ca and through social media.

Search co-ordinators also issued a request to anyone who has not yet checked the wells, ditches, outbuildings and treed areas on their property, asking them to do so and then report same to Whitehead.

“As you work around the area, are loading or hauling grain, etc., please keep your eyes open for anything that looks out of place or suspect,” stated the request.

Fertuck is described as around 5’4″ in height and weighing around 250 lbs., with greying brown hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing grey sweatpants, a grey sweater and white running shoes.

Anyone with information on her disappearance is asked to contact the Saskatoon RCMP detachment at 306-975-5145 or Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).