Police in northeastern Alberta have ended a massive 10-hour search on a remote First Nation for four escaped convicts from a Regina jail without having found any trace of the fugitives.
Four of the six prisoners who escaped from the Regina Correctional Centre on Aug. 24 continue to elude police.
RCMP in Elk Point received a tip at about 11:30 a.m. MT on Wednesday that the four fugitives were seen at a party the night before on the Frog Lake First Nation, located about 300 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.
Authorities called off the search just after nightfall following an extensive effort that included officers from several RCMP detachments and an Edmonton police helicopter.
Several homes had to be evacuated while police conducted their search, but residents have since been allowed to return home.
The search, part of a manhunt that has extended to three provinces, found no sign that the fugitives had been in the community, RCMP Cpl. Wayne Oakes said.
"We can't say for certain that those four individuals were or were not on the Frog Lake First Nation," said Oakes. "We just simply don't have enough information to say that they were there."
The inmates' escape has proven an embarrassment for provincial officials, who have struggled to explain how the six prisoners broke out of a secure unit, why it took so long to notify the public, and what actions were taken when senior jail officials were tipped about a possible escape.
Ryan John Agecoutay, 25, Preston Clarence Buffalocalf, 22, Cody Dillon Keenatch, 19, and Daniel Richard Wolfe, 32, are still at large.
RCMP have warned that the men should be considered dangerous and possibly armed.