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Research is continuing to identify a missing Kapuskasing couple. Jody and Nicole Blais left Sudbury aboard a helicopter Monday night and have not given any news since.

According to Captain Graeme Cooke of the Search and Rescue Center, the couple reportedly took off from Sudbury to Kapuskasing at 6:44 pm on Monday, March 4.

This flight is in a little over an hour and a half in normal time , he says.

Nicole and Jody Blais have not reported since Monday night after leaving Sudbury by helicopter bound for Kapuskasing. Photo: Courtesy of the family

It was a friend and Jody's business partner, Gilbert Mondoux, who sounded the alarm on Wednesday morning.

I sent an email to Jody Monday noon, and no answer at night. I returned a text on Tuesday, and I thought he was busy, and I rewrote him Tuesday night and Wednesday still no answer, and that's where I rang the alarm , did he confided by telephone to Radio-Canada.

Yesterday, Michel Blais, Jody's brother, contacted the search and rescue center after the call from Mr. Mondoux and the research began during the day, he said.

Even now, there are army planes that are looking for them , says Mr. Mondoux.

The helicopter of Jody and Nicole Blais is a Robinson R66 gray. Photo: Courtesy of the family

Everyone is working very hard to locate the missing aircraft, "said Captain Mathew Strong, from the Public Affairs Department of the Canadian Armed Forces' Wing Divisions.

The Trenton and Winnipeg centers are currently joining forces in this research.

Field research

The community of Kapuskasing also wants to lend a hand, says Mr. Mondoux.

The last signal from the helicopter was issued north of Timmins.

We know they are between Timmins and Kapuskasing. It is believed that they made a soft landing because the black box did not send a signal. So we still hope they're here and just waiting for us to find them.
Gilbert Mondoux

With the help of some forty people, Mr. Mondoux decided to form a research group that will crisscross on land, with snowmobiles, and in the air, with helicopters rented for the occasion, the region between Timmins and Kapuskasing as early as Thursday morning.

(French FaceBook Post):

However, the conditions on the ground are an obstacle.

Everyone in Kapuskasing wants to help, but there is so much snow in the woods that it's not possible to ride a snowmobile , says Mr. Mondoux. We also have people with drones, but we do not want to disturb planes flying at very low altitude.

At the latest news, the research team had found the GPS serial number aboard the helicopter, announced Mondoux in a Facebook publication.

This information should help them locate the helicopter.

Still no news

Joined by phone, the family of Jody Blais said he has not had contact with the latter since Monday.

Charlene Blais, Jody's sister, shared a Facebook post that was widely relayed.

The research teams invite those who have seen a light gray Robinson R66 helicopter with orange and white lines on the side to contact the Joint Rescue Coordination Center at 1-800-267-7270.

Volunteers at work

About 100 volunteers - snowmobilers for the most part - have been crisscrossing a vast area between Kapuskasing and Timmins since dawn.

They focus the research in a diameter of about ten kilometers around the last signal emitted by the cellular Jody. It was reportedly transmitted in a wooded area, northwest of Timmins.

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