Members of four search and rescue teams and the Abbotsford Police were involved in a seven-hour search for a missing man early this morning (Tuesday).
The 35-year-old was found down an embankment in a wooded area near Blueridge Drive and Blue Jay Street, and was transported to hospital in critical condition.
Const. Ian MacDonald said the incident began just before midnight, when police received a report from a man in Vancouver that his friend had called and was despondent. The man said his friend was in Abbotsford, where his mom lives, but he didn’t know the exact location.
Abbotsford Police were then able to track down the man’s family and get his cellphone number.
MacDonald said when they reached him on his phone, they were able to determine the man’s general location, using his cellphone signal.
As well, patrol cars searching the areas intermittently turned on their sirens, and the officer on the phone with the man listened for the sound in the background.
It was determined that the man was outdoors in a park or wooded area, and Central Fraser Valley Search and Rescue was called in to assist.
Police stayed on the phone with the man for about 50 minutes before his cellphone died.
As the search continued through the night, members of other search teams in Surrey, Mission and Maple Ridge were called in.
The man was found breathing but unresponsive at about 7 a.m. MacDonald said it is believed he had taken a number of sleeping pills and was also suffering from hypothermia.
