Cranbrook Search and Rescue had a busy start to the weekend, having received a wake up call at 4:14 a.m. on Saturday (March 27) with RCMP reporting a vehicle spotted in the Kootenay River.
Cranbrook SAR say that at the same time, they received a secondary call for a missing man in the Peavine area.
“RCMP members were able to locate the male as SAR was preparing to deploy,” said Cranbrook SAR in an online post.
They then focused their efforts on locating the vehicle that was found in the river, which they said was difficult considering the lack of daylight.
“As soon as daylight cracked and a helicopter became available, an A-star from bighorn was launched. The helicopter flew the river and was able to locate the vehicle in the river,” said Cranbrook SAR.
They add that no one was in the vehicle and it appeared to be abandoned.
“The teams were able to return to base, and return home by 10 [a.m.],” SAR said.
This follows on the heels of a rescue performed by Kimberley SAR on March 24, when Kimberley and Columbia Valley teams banded together to rescue a stranded person in the back country near White Swan Provincial Park. The subject was successfully evacuated after a technical rope rescue and airlifted to Kelowna for treatment.
READ: Kimberley Search and Rescue successfully evacuates stranded person near White Swan
corey.bullock@cranbrooktownsman.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
Want to support local journalism during the pandemic? Make a donation here.