An extensive search for a missing boater in the Marble River area near Port Alice has been suspended due to rising water levels.
After three days of extensive searching the missing person has not yet been located.
RCMP have stated that the emergency response personel and search and rescue crews are unable to continue their efforts because the rising water level in the Marble River area is making search efforts unsafe.
“All the rain we have received over the past couple of days have caused the water levels to rise significantly,” said Port Hardy RCMP Staff Sgt. Wes Olsen, adding “This was causing logs and debris to dislodge making the area unsafe for the divers, their safety crews, and the Swift Water searchers.”
He said the search will recommence once “The water levels recede enough to allow us to safely re-enter the water.”
The missing person was first reported to the RCMP on April 9, when a 45 year old male and Port Hardy resident failed to show up for work.
“RCMP were advised that the male, a Port Hardy resident, had made plans to attend a remote cabin on Alice Lake on Friday evening, April 6th,” said Olsen in a in an April 10 press release, adding “He failed to show up for work on Monday morning causing friends and co-workers to become concerned and contact police.”
“The missing person’s truck and boat trailer were found parked at the boat launch to Alice Lake by the Marble River Campground along Hwy 30 in the Regional District of Mount Waddington. The male was not located at the remote cabin,” explained Olsen, adding “Further investigation revealed that there was an overturned boat in the Marble River Rapids just down stream of the Marble River Bridge. Two dogs reported to have been with the male were located alive in the area but there was no sign of the missing male.”
Search and rescue crews began searching the area near the Marble River Rapids on April 10.
“The Port Hardy Detachment, with the assistance of local air services, the RCMP Helicopter, the RCMP Underwater Recovery Team, the Campbell River Ground and Swift Water Search and Rescue Team and the Canadian Coast Guard have undertaken an extensive air, ground and water search of the area in an effort to locate the missing male,” said Olsen.
Police are not releasing the name of the missing male until they notify family who are not local to the area.
