More relatives of Christina Calayca are heading to northern Ontario to join the wait for news on the 20-year-old woman who went missing in a provincial park more than a week ago.
Hopes that Christina will be found safe are dimming as the search of difficult terrain continues.
"It doesn't matter how much positive thinking you have," her father Mario Calayca told CTV News. "Little by little it sinks and you can feel it."
Her father packed up a car Monday with canned food, blankets and other supplies. He will drive north with some cousins, aunts and uncles to see the site where Christina disappeared.
The young woman's mom and some other family members are already at the park -- but Christina's dad said the journey will be worth it if he can hold his daughter again.
"I will be there to welcome her back no expectations -- just hope," Mario said.
About 80 police and civilian searchers scoured the rugged north shore of Lake Superior over the weekend looking for the young daycare worker, who went missing during a jog last Monday in Rainbow Falls Provincial Park, about 180 kilometres east of Thunder Bay,
Divers searched nearby lakes on Sunday, but turned up nothing. Crews were then using side-scan sonar to survey the water on Monday.
"Side-scan sonar is basically towed along the bottom by our underwater search and recovery teams and will give us an image of anything that is on the bottom," provincial police Chief Supt. Mike Armstrong told CTV's Canada AM.
Christina's mother, Elizabeth Rutledge, shook as she was told on Sunday that divers were being brought in. Police said it was standard procedure in the search operation.
Aircraft, marine units and three canine teams have also been combing the densely wooded area, and despite good weather, the rough terrain has made the task challenging.
"We're making every effort we can," Armstrong said Monday morning. "We're hopeful and we're keeping up the search."
