Missing teen found after intensive search

SALT SPRINGS - It wasn't a night to be out in the elements when 17-year-old Christopher Rae Clark left the log cabin in South Mountain, near Salt Springs, he had been sharing with two friends.
Without his jacket on, the Lorne teen left the cabin in the woods on foot at about 10 p.m. on Dec. 13. It's unclear why he left, but he never returned.
A searcher found Clark's body shortly after noon on Christmas Day, about a quarter of a kilometre from the cabin.
His parents, Larry and Christina Clark of Lorne, had assembled their own team to comb the area - a group of friends, family members and concerned citizens - after Pictou County Ground Search and Rescue were temporarily stood down until further notice.
Larry and Christina had been told it was wise to wait until the snow melted to resume the search, but the couple said they couldn't wait knowing he was out there, somewhere.
"He was found just up the road from the camp, on the edge (of the woods)," Christina Clark told The News yesterday.
Her voice cracking, Christina thanked the volunteers who searched the woods these past few days.
"We'd like to thank them for all their hard work; for the efforts they put through," she said.
"They kept coming back day after day. They waded through snow up to their hips, and they just kept coming back."
Clark, who had attended Northumberland Regional High School, was the proud father of a seven-month-old baby boy.
In his spare time, he enjoyed playing guitar.
"He was a really good kid," said his mother.
The cause of Clark's death is not yet known, Sgt. Law Power, acting commander of the Pictou County District RCMP, said Wednesday.
"It will be a few days before the medical examiner does his autopsy."
In the meantime, Gary MacKinnon, who was the search manager on site with Pictou County Ground Search and Rescue, said they did all they could to find the teen.
However, he said Clark was likely buried under the deep snow.
"We searched everything that was visible," he said. "Unless you have a definite spot that you can search, we can put people in a line and poke every hole and crevice but you're talking about a large area because nobody really knew where he was."
Sheila Wilcox, president of Pictou County Ground Search and Rescue, agreed, saying: "Unfortunately, since the time he had been missing there had been a major snow storm in the area."
She said RCMP stood down the search (meaning they temporarily put a halt to it) after there were no definite signs to show Clark was in the area.
MacKinnon, meanwhile, confirmed he told the Clark family it was better to wait for more favourable conditions before continuing the search.
"I told him (Larry Clark)…when the snow goes, if he's here he will be found. But they didn't want to wait," said MacKinnon.
MacKinnon and Wilcox both said, however, that searches are best left to trained professionals.
First of all, said Wilcox, there is the fear that untrained persons are endangering themselves by conducting their own searches.
Moreover, if they had found signs Clark was still in the area, having untrained people comb through the woods could destroy evidence.
"We do understand the position of family and friends, but we would prefer that it was left for us to do, in most cases."