Stomach 'in knots,' says sister of 1 of 2 Alberta-bound men on plane that vanished in Wawa, Ont., area

Search-and-rescue efforts entered their fourth day Monday in Ontario's north after a plane carrying two menvanished.

John Fehr and Brian Slingerlanddisappeared onThursday evening after the plane went missing in the Wawa, Ont. areanear Sault Ste. Marie.

The pair took off with the plane, which was purchased by Slingerland,from the township of Delhiin southern Ontario.

Mary Reimer, Fehr's sister,said the pair's intended destination was Marathon, Ont., a stop on their way back to Alberta. Fehr was meant to co-pilotthe aircraft.

Reimer, who lives inVienna, Ont., near Aylmer,said her brother earned his pilot's licence recently, andalways loved the idea of flying.

The heavy snowfall on the ground, up to five feet in some parts, has made air search difficult.Maj. Trevor Reid, Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre

"Stomach is all in knots. Everybody, including myself, is just anxiously waiting yet afraid of what we might get, you know, when the news does come," Reimer said.

"Just waiting. Just waiting and not knowing. That's the hardest thing right now, is waiting and not knowing."

Reimer said that when she spoke with Fehr's wife Lisa earlier Monday, she had said the family was"hanging onto hope." The couple, Reimer said, share six children.

Maj.Trevor Reid, senior public affairs officer with the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Trenton, Ont., said about 85 people are part of the ground and air search-and-rescue operation through the centre, Royal Canadian Air Force, Ontario Provincial Police, Canadian Coast Guard, and the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association(CASARA).But weather conditions over the past several days have not been favourable.

"The heavy snowfall on the ground, up to five feet [about 1.5 metres]in some parts has made air search difficult," Reid said.

"As well, the terrain in that general area is quite rough and it's posing a challenge for some of our ground search-and-rescue partners."

Reid said rescue teams were searching for an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) signal from the plane, but so far were notsuccessful.

While the weather has posed difficulties, Reid said it has improved and he is hopefulthat it will continue to hold as crews continue their search.

'There's not a whole lot we can do'

Reimer said from her knowledge, her brother is not familiar withthenorthern Ontario terrain."I think he knew though that it was pretty much wilderness about that."

She said the moral and financial support havebeen incredible from both community members and strangers across Canada.

She said five of her other brothers were preparing to join the search should it continue.

"It makes us feel like we're at least doing something," she said, "It's good to have people out there and willing to help, especially my own family.

"There's not a whole lot we can do here. We're praying. Praying a lot."