Search escalates for missing Saint John teen

Family and friends of a missing Saint John teenager continue to scour the cityfor clues of her disappearance.

Genevieve Cormier, 19, was last seen in the city's uptown area on Sept. 29.

Her disappearancehas baffled her family and police.

About 100 people spent Thursday night putting up posters and searching for her.On Friday afternoon, searchers gathered in the rear parking lot of HMCSBrunswicker, near the waterfront, to search the area.

About 40 people turned up for the search Friday, including Cormier's father, Jason Cormier, who flew in from Calgary on Thursday.

He said his employer gave him the money to fly himself and his son back to help with the search.

"One word: nightmare. That's the best way I can describe it. It's any parent's worst nightmare, trying to find your daughter," he said.

Cormier'saunt, Paula Noel, said they're trying to retrace the route she would have travelled on her way home.

The family's gone all along that route of course but there's lots of fields, lots of areas that are just really hard to get through unless you have a lot of people. I mean you just can't cover that much ground, she said.

Coast guard called in

The Coast Guard joined in on Friday to search along the shoreline. Police said they won't call in ground search and rescue teams until they have more concrete information.

Noel said the family is appreciative of the efforts being made to find Cormier.

It's any parent's worst nightmare trying to find your daughter.- Jason Cormier

"So many people have been online trying to get the word out that way, have been making posters, printing posters, putting them up around the city...it's just been very touching for the family to see the response of the community and how people are coming together and trying to help," she said.

"She was known by a lot of young people in town and thereare just a lot of people who have a connection to her, or to someone in the family as well."

Saint John police have posted photographs on the force's websiteshowing surveillance camera footage of Cormier that was taken on Sept. 29, in order to show what she was wearing when she went missing.

Cormieris described as being aboutfive feet seven inches tofive feet eight inches tall, weighing 120 pounds with a thin build.

She has long brown hairthat she wears straight, or in a ponytail. She has hazel eyes and will usually weara light amount of makeup.

Cormier has pierced ears and a black bird tattoo on her left shoulder blade.

Anyone with information as to her whereabouts is asked to contact the police at 506-648-3333, or contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.