Why police renewed their search for 2 missing Indigenous teens

The renewed police search for two missing Indigenous girls who disappeared nine years ago has come up empty.

• A family's 'mixed emotions' as tip prompts new search for Quebec teens
• TIMELINE: The search for Shannon Alexander and Maisy Odjick

Maisy Odjick and Shannon Alexander disappeared in 2008. They were 16 and 17 at the time, respectively. The teens had planned to go out dancing and were supposed to spend the night at Alexander's house in Maniwaki, Que.

Their belongings were found the next day at the home but Alexander andOdjickweren't there and haven't been seen since.

CBC News has learned new details about the unsolved mystery that landed homicide investigatorsat the Kitigan Zibi reserve in Quebec this week.

Six investigators, an emergency unit and forensics team spent three days searching the river and digging a massive hole along the shoreline in hopes ofcracking the case almost a decade later.

Hand-drawn sketch of the water

Several weeks ago police told Maisy Odjick's mother someone came forward with a tip about where the bodies of the teens may be found.

"They went to interview that person," Laurie Odjick told CBC News. "That person drew a picture of where he was talking about. And they came in over I think in the spring to see that area and the drawing was accurate."

Police then had to wait for the land to thaw and for the water levels to lower, said Odjick.

On Monday, the team of police from Montreal arrived at the reserve and started interviewing community members.

The next day police divers enteredPitobig Creek near the Maniwaki Speedway, a racetrack on the reserve.

"They needed to see in the river if we could find any evidence," said Sret du Qubecspokesperson Martine Asselin. "If we could find, of course, the two young girls. But unfortunately we weren't able to find anything."

Then came another piece of new information.

Hole dug at racetrack

On Tuesdayafternoon police learned the landscape had changed.

TheManiwakiSpeedwayhad expanded over the years. Dirt was moved from the track and was dropped near the creek, which may have disrupted the shoreline.

Acommunity member who knew the missing teens and had an excavator helped diga 6.5-square-metre hole along the shoreline. Police sifted through the sand.

"Even ... with the rain we really dug to the bottom to ensure we searched every aspect of the river," said Asselin.

Around 5 p.m. police packed up and said they wouldn't be returning to the site. They hadn't found a thing but said the investigation is still ongoing.

Police interviewed 20 people

Police are now looking through the nearly two dozen statements they gathered during their three days near Maniwaki.

Investigators spoke to 20 community members and conducted interviews so they could search for new leads and rule out old ones.

"We're going to try to do some links between them to see what was said before from other witnesses," said Asselin.

Investigators know how hard it can be on the victims' familieswhen searches like this come up empty,but want them to know they won't give up on the case.

"The investigation is still alive and the homicide unit is working so hard to have answers for the family," said Asselin.