The Thunder Bay Police Service held a news conference at the CNRA building on James Street Wednesday morning to update the public on the case of 15-year-old Jordan Wabasse, who was last seen exiting a city bus near Mary Street and Holt Place around 10 p.m. on Feb. 7.
Jacob spoke to media at the conference with her husband, Derek, by her side and her 2-year-old son Derren in her arms. She said she was confident Jordan was in the Thunder Bay area.
"Please, Jordan, let us know where you are," Jacob said. "We want to know if you are OK. We miss you. Please come home, we’re waiting for you."
Before burying her head into her son’s shoulder for comfort, Jacob asked the public to keep a vigilant eye out for any signs of her missing son.
Thunder Bay Police Service Insp. Andy Hay said the cap retrieved from the Kaministiquia River on Feb. 15 was sent to a Sault Ste. Marie lab for testing. Police won’t know the results of those tests for several weeks.
He said he felt frustrated by the long wait, but the matter was out of his hands.
The OPP will wait until the spring before they attempted another underwater search, but city police will continue to look in the area of the James Street swing bridge.
"Again, Thunder Bay Police will investigate any new information that comes forward," Hay said. "We’re still getting a few number of tips coming in … but yes, at this point in the investigation the tips are starting to slow down. Our best information right now is that we should be concentrating our search in the area of the bridge."
City police, the OPP and volunteers searched the Mary Street and Holt Place area on Saturday, Feb. 12, but found no clues. The searched moved to the partially frozen Kaministiquia River following a tip to police.
A few days later, the OPP diving team retrieved a baseball cap that matched the description given of one worn by Jordan at the time of his disappearance. After three days in the water, police called off their underwater search.
But the searched continued on land and eventually in the air.
Acting on a tip, Anishnawbek Police Service officers and two volunteers from the Fort William First Nation community began a snowmobile search of wooded land behind the busy THP Gas Bar on City Road.
Following a two-day delay, an OPP helicopter arrived from southern Ontario to aid in the search, but an hour-long aerial search along the banks of the Kaministiquia River didn’t turn up any new evidence.
Following is a timeline of the disappearance and search efforts for Jordan:
- Feb. 7, around 10 p.m. – Jordan exits a Thunder Bay transit bus near Mary Street and Holt Place
- Feb. 10 – city police officers request help from the public to find Jordan
- Feb. 12 – Police and volunteers begin searching the area of Mary Street and Holt Place
- Feb. 13 – A baseball cap is spotted near the Kaministiquia River that matches the description of the one Jordan wore at the time of his disappearance
- Feb. 14 – Police receive a tip that someone may have wandered on to the ice of the Kaministiquia River near James Street
- Feb. 15 – Divers continue to search the river and retrieve the cap
- Feb. 17 – Police end their underwater search of the Kaministiquia River
- Feb. 18 – Anishnawbek Police Service officers and volunteers begin a snowmobile search of wooded land behind the THP Gas Bar on City Road
- Feb. 19 – Poor weather conditions delay an OPP helicopter from leaving southern Ontario
- Feb. 21 – The helicopter arrives and conducts an aerial search of the area from the Bowater mill, downstream to the James Street Bridge and then on to Lake Superior
