On October 2, at 10:15 p.m. Castlegar RCMP received a call of a missing/lost hunter at the Bombi Summit.
The 35-year-old man had been with companions. They had separated earlier and were to meet back at their camp at dusk, but he failed to return.
His quad had been located but he had not.The group was not from Castlegar but had hunted here in the past and was familiar with the area.Search and Rescue was called out.
A brief search around the quad was conducted by SAR and RCMP in vehicles, but by about 2 a.m. no one had been located.
Due to darkness and the terrain the search was postponed until the morning.By 7 a.m. SAR was back up and searching.
An RCMP helicopter was also activated and came from Kelowna to search.Just after 10 a.m. smoke was noted and the missing male was located at the top of a hill near a fire he had built.
He was airlifted back to where his adventure had begun.The male suffered some discomfort from twisting his ankles while walking around in the dark, but had no other new injuries.
He had left his quad and gotten turned around in the bush. He found a place to spend the night and climbed out of the valley in the daylight and waited for rescue.
Once again Castlegar Search and Rescue provided superb service to their community. These folks drop everything when called, and will spend countless hours searching for other people's loved ones.
I think it is important to recognize how lucky we are to have such a dedicated group of volunteers providing such a valuable service.
Sgt. Laurel Mathew
Castlegar RCMP