Friends and family of missing fisherman Damian Dutrisac are organizing another search of the Fraser River on Wednesday, May 12.
A GoFundMe campaign, ‘Please Help Bring Damian Dutrisac Home‘ was launched on May 10, after the Abbotsford fisherman went missing on the Fraser near Chilliwack on May 7.
Dutrisac had been fishing with friend Andrew Newton last Friday.
They were on the Fraser near the confluence of the Vedder River when the anchor of the 14-foot Jon boat got snagged, and the boat capsized and sank.
Extensive and thorough searches took place in the hours after it was called in, by ground, water and air, all to no avail, said Chilliwack RCMP, with efforts by Chilliwack Search and Rescue, Abbotsford Police and more.
The river is running high at the moment in the midst of 2021 Fraser River Freshet.
“No one has seen Damian since,” reads the GoFundMe info.
“He could have become trapped in an inaccessible spot, so please everyone keep an eye out if you’re near the river.”
Anyone with “a boat, time, a drone or other resources” to search is being asked to help, by contacting Kaylee Smith through the fundraising page.
The boat flipped after the anchor got snagged on something, and the boat began to fill with water.
The two men lunged to grab the life jackets but they were pitched into the water.
Newton who was wearing waders, managed to swim to shore, and pulled himself out at the edge of the Bert Brink Wildlife Management Area, on the Fraser side. A passing boater rescued him on the Vedder side more than an hour later.
Dutrisac and his girlfriend, Karyssa Mclean, had become engaged in September and had been planning to get married soon, according to the GoFundMe page.
READ MORE: Fisherman falls in after boat capsized in Fraser last Friday
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Damian Dutrisac and Karyssa Mclean got engaged last fall. (Facebook/ Damian Dutrisac)
