Police say the search will continue on Sunday Sept. 8. RCMP has also asked all helicopters leaving Lac La Biche airport to do a visual check of the area Stratton is believed to have drowned when his bot capsized on the lake.
Stratton and a fishing partner, a 62 year-old man whose name has not been released, were out on the lake near Ulliac Beach pulling in a fishing net when their boat was hit by a wave and began to take on water.
Neither of the men were wearing life jackets and Stratton, according to police, was not a strong swimmer. His fishing partner swam to shore to get help and in his statement, said the last time he saw Stratton, he was hanging on to the boat while it was filling with water.
The 62 year-old called police once he reached the shore to let them know that Stratton had not made it to shore with him.
Police conducted a search on the night of Aug. 30 and continued into the weekend with Little Divide Search and Rescue, Alberta Parks and Conservation officers, Alberta Fish and Wildlife officers and RCMP. On Sunday Sept. 1, The Northern Alberta Aquatic Rescue Society was called in to conduct a search using underwater divers and sonar.
The boat that had sank was located tangled in the fishing net the two men were trying to remove from the water, as well as some debris that has washed up to the shore.
