A high-tech robot built in Canada arrived in Walker Township Sunday morning as some 25 volunteers from search and rescue teams in three counties gathered together and fortified their approach in search of a missing Tamaqua man.

Jesse Farber, 29, went missing without a trace presumably on Sharp Mountain in Tamaqua on Aug. 11.

There is speculation that Farber could've stumbled into one of many open mine holes.

Sunday morning, crews from Northeast Search and Rescue unloaded a special rescue camera donated by the Canadian company Inuktun InCommand Robotics. The operation and deployment of advanced tactics was kept under wraps in order to avoid unnecessary distraction.

Of particular interest is an air shaft suspected of being 1,100 feet deep, believed to have water at the bottom.

Searchers are hoping the unit will be able to overcome the sheer depth of the hole, which no camera has been able to fully penetrate.

"We want closure for your family," said a rescuer Sunday morning to a heartsick Pat Ferryman, Farber's grandfather.

Ferryman said the family has been enduring endless emotional pain.

"This is driving us crazy, the not knowing," said Ferryman.

Ferryman's wife, Rae, known as "Sweetie," has been distraught over her missing grandson, something she's had to cope with for the past five weeks.

"She's worked up," he said.

A searcher who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said crews launched the newest search at 9 a.m. and were expected to stay at the site most of the day.

See Monday's Times News for complete story.