'It would be a miracle' if missing teenager is alive, say Nunavut RCMP

RCMP in Iqaluit say there's a "faint hope" that Ambar Roy, an 18-year-old Ontario university student who's been missing for more than a week, is alive.

Roy has been missing since March 13 in the Nunavut capital. The University in Waterloo student was in Iqaluit to visit his parents.

RCMP said on Monday that they found tracks in the snow leading out of the city and they're believed to be Roy's. They say some of the tracks indicate that the person was missing one shoe. The tracks were found on Friday about 10 kilometres from the city.

"[There's] that faint hope," said Staff Sgt. Garfield Elliott. "But the reality is, it's a difficult reality to make that determination, but it would be a miracle."

"He was not dressed for those types of elements or conditions ... in those types of conditions, it's grave."

Roy was scheduled to fly out of Iqaluit and back to Waterloo, Ont., on March 12. He had only arrived the day before, but his parents say they fought with the teenager that day, and Roy wanted to return to school immediately. He went to the airport on Tuesday but never got on his flight.

RCMP initially said that Roy was last seen at the airport again on March 14, but they now say that is not the case.

Now they say the last known sighting is March 13, when a taxi driver dropped the teenager off by the Road to Nowhere.

RCMP and dozens of searchers have been combing the city for the last two weeks looking for any signs of Roy. His parents told CBC last week that they were holding out hope that he would found alive.

Garfield said the RCMP have been "bracing the family" for the reality that he may not be found alive.

The search was suspended on Monday due to poor weather conditions in Iqaluit.