An extensive search by ground, water and air has failed to turn up any sign of a Trail man, presumed drowned since May 10.
Jeffery Bauder, 28, has been missing since a May 9 jet ski accident near the north end of Sunningdale.
Search and Rescue (SAR) efforts ramped up again on Sunday when 23 members from South Columbia, Rossland, Castlegar and Nelson met at Gyro Park to resume a sweep of the river and shoreline sections.
Like the first SAR operation, which carried through until May 10, the majority of undertakings this weekend were completed by boat and helicopter. However, the river’s seasonal conditions hampered this most recent mission.
“We basically searched north of where the accident occurred, so pretty much all the way up to Rivervale,” began Mike Hudson from South Columbia SAR. “And then searched all the way down to the Northport Bridge, we were granted access into the United States,” he added. “Right now the water is moving so fast and is so high, it was pretty murky – we only got about five feet of visibility from the helicopter which isn’t that great – as opposed to when the accident happened, they figured they had a good ten feet of visibility.”
Hudson confirmed crews will be standing down until water levels recede.
A 9-1-1 call that a jet ski had capsized originally came into regional fire rescue at approximately 6:05 p.m. May 9.
An eight-person team from Company No. 4 (Trail) responded and reported pulling one man from the water at 6:16 p.m. and that a Teck crew rescued another man shortly after. SAR teams began their search for Bauder that night but stood down the following afternoon following a Southeast RCMP news release that listed the man as missing and presumed drowned.
