Photo: Clarissa Merasty Facebook

The hunt for 24-year-old Natanis Merasty continues in James Smith Cree Nation on Saturday in the midst of an investigation spanning three provinces.  

 Merasty was last seen getting into her car at an Edmonton hotel in the early morning hours of May 5th. Since then, her vehicle has been spotted in locations across western Canada, such as Lake Louise, Nanaimo, Lloydminster, and eventually James Smith Cree Nation, where her black Hyundai Tucson was found abandoned, painted silver. 

On Saturday, a search party will be visiting JSCN in hopes of finding evidence that Merasty also made the journey back to Saskatchewan. Search organizer and family friend Katherine Cooper says Natanis isn’t the type of person to stop contacting her family, so her disappearance was immediately seen as suspicious.

“It’s heartbreaking. It’s 2025, and we’re still doing this as Indigenous women. However, it’s needed.”

Cooper calls on members of the public to join the search, bring drones, and put up posters in their own communities to raise awareness. 

“I always say, people will show up that are meant to be there. People show up in different ways, also. They donate financially. They go to businesses and ask for donations.”

She adds that there is a lot of ground to cover, but JSCN leadership will pinpoint some places of interest when the search party arrives.

 The search party will meet in front of the Prince Albert Health Authority at 11:00 a.m. before traveling to the first nation.