The family of missing Manning Park hiker Jordan Naterer is seeking Princeton and Hope area volunteers to clear the way for a fresh effort to locate the 25-year-old engineer.
Between June 10 and 13, specialists from Please Bring Me Home, an Alberta-based non-profit dedicated to finding missing people will be combing areas of the park with human remains detection dogs.
Jordan’s mother Josie told the Spotlight that winter debris on Frosty Trail and Monument 78 Trail off Windy Joe needs to be removed so the dogs can access targeted points.
Jordan, who has a home in Vancouver, was last seen in Manning Park on October 10, 2020, after telling friends he planned an overnight hike.
Vancouver police, RCMP, and ground search and rescue groups from across the province executed an initial, exhaustive search. When that was suspended Jordan’s parents hired private search companies, employing helicopters and drones, and never giving up hope they would find their son.
While activity was necessarily scaled back over the winter, the search started up again in February. According to Josie, beginning in April drones have flown over the area three times a week, creating thousands of hours of video that requires review.
Related: Family resumes search for son, missing in Manning Park
“So far we haven’t found a single thing,” she said.
Kandace Pagonis is Please Bring Me Home’s team lead on Jordan’s case. A licensed private investigator with a degree in criminology, she has extensive experience tracking down missing people.
“We are looking for anything that might pertain to Jordan, including Jordan,” she told the Spotlight. “We are hoping to help this family to find the answers that they need. We are hoping for good news.”
In addition to using the dogs “we will have those boots on the ground and those people might find or see things…They are going off-trail and they are going to be in some areas with the dogs that may not have been searched.”
After examining results to date Pagonis said she is not ruling out any scenario.
“Is there any clothing? Is there any evidence? We don’t know what happened to Jordan. There are a million things that could have happened. He could have been injured. Is he still on the mountain? We just don’t have anything,” she said.
“I think assumptions are very dangerous to go on…There have been a lot of people who have been missing months upon months and suddenly appear.”
Since it was founded in 2018 Please Bring Me Home has located 17 missing persons, two of them deceased.
The organization utilizes forensic specialists, people qualified in psychology and anthropology, K9 handlers, former law enforcement, ground search and rescue experts and map consultants.
Related: ‘Please pray for our son,’ says mother of missing hiker
According to Josie members of the Eastgate community near Manning have already been on the Frosty Trail and Trail 78, using chainsaws to break down fallen trees.
However, more help is needed before Please Bring Me Home can put their dogs to work. Windfall needs to be cleared off the trails after it is cut by a ranger or a qualified chainsaw operator.
Because of COVID travel restrictions, Josie hopes Princeton and Hope area residents will come forward.
“We need local people.”
For more information on how to volunteer contact Shawn Klassen at Parks BC Shawn.Klassen@gov.bc.ca
A gofundme page to help with the Naterer family’s search expenses has raised $143,015 of a $150,000 goal with more than 1,700 people contributing.
https://ca.gofundme.com/f/jordannaterer?utm_campaign=p_cp_url&utm_medium=os&utm_source=customer
Please Bring Me Home relies on fundraising and donations to reimburse volunteers for travel expenses.
https://pleasebringmehome.com/about/
Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email:andrea.demeer@similkameenspotlight.com
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