SOUTHEND, Sask. — Police are charging five teens who were missing for several days in northern Saskatchewan last month before they were rescued.
The teens, who are between 13 and 17, had failed to return on time from a moose-hunting trip.
Low temperatures and poor weather conditions hampered the search, but the youth were spotted at a remote private fishing lodge on an island in Reindeer Lake.
Searchers rescued four boys and one girl and returned them to their homes in Southend on Nov. 10.
The owner of the wilderness lodge later reported property damage and filed a complaint with the RCMP.
Simon Jobb, a councillor with the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, said Thursday that he couldn't comment on the charges.
The teens, who cannot be identified because of their ages, are charged with breaking and entering and are to appear in court Jan. 29.
Lodge owner Kelly Littlechilds said last month that two of his employees had found the doors of the lodge kicked in. Fishing gear, clothing and all-terrain vehicles were out of place, he said.
"As far as we know, there has definitely been some unnecessary damage," he said at the time.
Littlechilds said the facility includes a main building and about 30 cabins. The buildings are left unlocked, with food inside, for anyone who might be lost, he said.
"They didn't need to be in everything else that we had closed up, let alone drag things out and make a mess."
Reindeer Lake is Saskatchewan's second-largest lake at more than 6,650 square kilometres and has numerous islands and bays. The community of Southend is at the end of Highway 102, which is the only road access to the lake.
