Janet Dorward is being hailed as a hero for helping the RCMP locate a lost hiker.
On Saturday, Jan. 7 a man was reported missing by BC Ferries. The man’s car “was in the line, but he wasn’t present,” said Corp. Stu Foster.
“BC Ferries called us around five p.m., and we found out that he had hiked out to the WW2 airplane crash site that is nearby. He was a 66 year old man visiting from Manitoba, and as it started to become darker we had officers looking for him but we weren’t able to find him.”
Foster stated that they had managed to get a hold of the lost hiker by cellphone, and he gave them a description of the area he was currently located at.
“We then called Janet Dorward, she runs the hiking group in town, and with the description he gave us, Janet was able to tell us exactly where he was,” said Foster. “She then offered to come out with us to find him.”
At 9 p.m., Dorward and three police officers went into the bush, ended up finding the man by a lake on Dale’s Trail, and then brought him back to civilization around five a.m.
The hiker was “a little cold, tired and hungry,” said Foster, who added that he was transported to the hospital for precautionary measures.
“That trail is somewhat difficult to follow at night. Without Janet, there is no way we would have been able to find him that night,” confirmed Foster.
