Family and friends of a missing Kapuskasing, Ont. couple continue to search to find them. On Monday, Jody and Nicole Blais left the Sudbury airport in a helicopter to travel to a hanger in Fauquier, near Kapuskasing. They haven't been seen or heard from since. Since then, OPP, The Canadian Armed Forces, search and rescue teams and family and friends have been looking for them. On Friday, a friend of the couple, Gilbert Mondoux, says he and other snowmobilers started searching in the Gogama area, south of Timmins. Later in the day, they received confirmation Jody's satellite phone was last connected to the network near Foleyet, northwest of Gogama. "We've got people from Kapuskasing everywhere right now [searching]," he said. Mondoux says he hopes the satellite phone signal will help in narrowing the search. "By getting that signal or location of the cell phone could really, really help us to go to a small point to search," he said. "We're focusing on a smaller place so we've got a good chance we're going to find them today." Jody and Nicole Blais went missing during a helicopter flight on Monday. They have not been heard from since. (Radio-Canada) Despite being missing for four days, Mondoux remains hopeful. "Jody is well equipped and he is an excellent pilot," he said. "The chances are good. We are still worried, but I think [there] is still a chance."<doc-sep>The search continues for a missing couple from Kapuskasing who are overdue in returning to the town by helicopter. They were heading back north from a vacation, stopped in Sudbury for fuel, and were expected in Kapuskasing Monday night. They have still not been heard from. Jody Blais was flying his helicopter with his wife Nicole, home from a trip to Nashville. The last time a cell phone signal was registered from either Jody or Nicole was around 7 pm on Monday, March 4 and that was from a tower near Timmins. The couple was reported missing to the police by friends on Wednesday morning. Police have engaged the Canadian military's Joint Rescue Coordination Centre to search the area between Sudbury and Kapuskasing Stéphanie Bélec is a Constable with the Ontario Provincial Police. "At the moment, we are in communications with the JRCC. They're basically eyes in the sky right now, trying to locate different things. We're also going by different tips or anything that the general public might have, any information." said Bélec. Aircraft from Canadian Forces Base in Trenton, Winnipeg and Bagotville, Quebec have been searching since Wednesday. They're also being assisted by Civil Air Search and Rescue Association with crews from Niagara, Sudbury and New Liskeard. CTV News spoke with a representative from that organization who said every aircraft is required to be equipped with an emergency locator transmitter, which will send a signal in the event of a crash, or if activated manually. He said that the fact that no emergency transmitter signal has been sent is reason to be optimistic that Jody was forced to make a "soft" landing. A family member told CTV News that the missing man is "a very experienced helicopter pilot" and that they are equipped for winter weather. And the OPP in the area say they are discouraging people from getting involved in the search with their own snow machines.<doc-sep>Send this page to someone via email Search crews are looking for a couple who went missing earlier this week after heading to Kapuskasing, Ont., by helicopter. Provincial police say Nicole Blais and Jody Blais, 47 and 49, were last seen leaving Sudbury, Ont., around 6:45 p.m. on Monday. Police say the pair never arrived at the hangar near Kapuskasing where they were scheduled to land that night. They say the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre is helping with the search. Family members of the couple have taken to social media, asking people to keep an eye out for their missing relatives. Advertisement<doc-sep>A crew of 10 to 20 people, including the missing helicopter pilot’s business partner, Gilbert Mondoux, and brother, Michael Blais, head out Friday in a land search for the couple that went missing on Monday. Mondoux says the search party is heading out on snowmobiles in the Gogama/Watershed area and includes some members that are trained in search and rescue. The area was chosen because it is said to have been the last place that Jody’s cellphone signal worked. Royal Canadian Air Force and Civil Air Search and Rescue Association continue to search via plane. Ontario Provincial Police continues searching areas between Timmins, Kapuskasing and Fauquier, where the helicopter’s hanger is located. “We know that he didn’t crash, that he did a landing, because his black box didn’t open. So, that’s why we have good reason to say that they’re still alive and they’re waiting for us.” said Mondoux. CTV Northern Ontario will continue following the story and provide updates as they happen.<doc-sep>
The family of a Kapuskasing, Ont. couple who took off in a helicopter and haven't been seen since are hopeful their loved ones will be found safe. Nicole Blais, 47, and Jody Blais, 49, were last seen leaving the Sudbury airport in a helicopter on Monday night at 6:45 p.m. They were supposed to arrive at a hanger in Fauquier, near Kapuskasing, but never did. The couple was reported missing on Wednesday morning. "At this time, the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre is currently and actively looking for the missing couple," Constable Stéphanie Bélac with the OPP said. A helicopter gets ready to take off from the airport in Kapuskasing to search for Jody and Nicole Blais. (Francis Bouchard/Radio-Canada) "As well, we have members from the James Bay OPP detachment that are continuing with the missing persons investigation. Our emergency response team is currently looking as well." Constable Bélac says the search is being conducted by air and on land. "We're currently looking at all different angles and different possibilities in terms of where they could be," she said. The Royal Canadian Air Force says it has a number of aircrafts assisting in the search. "There's a lot of people and aircraft involved to try and find this aircraft as quickly as possible," David Lavallee, public affairs officer with the Canadian Armed Forces said. "We focused on finding the aircraft as quickly as possible." Community support Charlene Blais, Jody's sister, says the couple had stopped in Sudbury to get fuel for their helicopter. She says since they went missing, the community of Kapuskasing has stepped up to help. "We do have a big group of people who are helping out either by collecting information, going on foot or skidooing to see the area," she said. "What we're hoping is to alert as many people as possible and have many people looking for them either with an aircraft or on foot." She says the family is optimistic at this point the couple will be found. ​"It is cold out there [but] the weather is pretty nice though," she said. "It's clear and there's no snow falling so we're hoping that it would be clear enough to see where they are and we can just rescue them and bring them home."