RED LAKE, Minn. - The search resumed Thursday for two young brothers who were reported missing on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota early Wednesday.
Tristan Anthony White, 4, and Avery Lee Stately, 2, disappeared from a yard in the Walking Shield area of the city of Red Lake between 9:30 a.m. and 9:50 a.m. Wednesday, the FBI said.
FBI spokesman Paul McCabe said Thursday that bloodhounds searched the woods near where the boys disappeared. Investigators also checked the possibility that the brothers were abducted. Later in the day, horses and more dogs sent by the state Department of Public Safety arrived to aid in the search, McCabe said. Searchers again went door-to-door and looked through houses in the neighborhood where the boys went missing.
He said it was too soon to tell if the boys wandered away or if there was a crime committed. "At this time we just don't know. We're exhaustively trying to cover both angles," he said.
The bloodhound search failed to turn up clues, as did a later search by more than 100 volunteers. Humans and bloodhounds don't search the same area at the same time because the additional scents can confuse the dogs.
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The volunteers and officers from state, local and federal law enforcement agencies searched the area Wednesday and Thursday, and crews will search again today by air and land starting in the morning. McCabe said area citizens have and will continue to be interviewed during the search.
About 30 homes are spread out in the Walking Shield subdivision, but thick woods surround the homes. McCabe said there are no indications at this time that foul play is likely, and the terrain of the area would be easy to get lost in.
Tribal Chairman Floyd (Buck) Jourdain Jr. said the search area is mostly composed of wetlands, lakes and woods. So far, he said, no tracks or broken ice has been found to suggest the boys went into the water.
"All we really have to go on is the parents, who said the children were playing outside the home," he said. "They were out there one minute, and they didn't hear them or see them outside the house."
The boys, both American Indian, have short brown hair and brown eyes.
Tristan was described as 3-feet-6 and wearing a dark blue Spider-man jacket with yellow trim, Levis jeans and black and gray winter boots. Avery was described as 2-feet tall and wearing a gray pullover sweat shirt that says "Timberland" on the front, faded Levis jeans and Spider-man tennis shoes.
Those with information on the boys' whereabouts should contact the FBI's regional office at (612) 376-3200.
