The search continues for a missing 71-year-old Saskatchewan man.

James Gallagher, from White Fox, near Nipawin, was last seen driving his 2004 red Ford Ranger eight days ago towards Flin Flon, Manitoba. The RCMP search for him has gone cold, and his family is now reaching out to the public for help.

Marlene Morrissey, Gallagher's sister, says the family is still searching. "It is very frightening because he may not be getting help anymore, or he may have gotten too weak, or gone to sleep in the truck."

Gallagher has a severe speech impediment, he can't read, and has trouble communicating. His family says on November 1, he gave a man a ride to the nearby community of Melfort. They believe somewhere along the way he got lost. Since then he has been sighted as far away as Thompson, Manitoba, over 800 kilometres east of Melfort.

He was last seen near Flin Flon on November 4. He has paid for gas a couple times with checks, but his family believes he may not be getting the help he needs.

"We're thinking that people are staying away from him, and we just think that he is so afraid," says Morrissey.

The RCMP have searched the area where Gallagher was last seen extensively and found nothing. Staff Sergeant Barry Thomas says a number of factors are inhibiting their search efforts.

"He doesn't possess a cell phone, there is no GPS unit on his vehicle, he is not using interact or credit cards, he is using checks, but the process of the checks clearing until we're away of where they were cashed is taking four or five days."

The family has launched their own search but has also had no luck. They continue to hope that Gallagher asks the people he encounters for help. "We will be there to pick you up, we just want you to be safe, and we want you to come home," says Morrissey.

Air searches on both the Saskatchewan and Manitoba side have been conducted. RCMP say they will continue searching until he is found.