Westcoast Inland Search and Rescue has joined the search for two missing men who were last seen in Ucluelet.
Dan Archbald, 37, and Ryan Daley, 43, arrived in Ucluelet on May 13 after a roughly eight-week sailing trip from Panama and security footage shows the two men leaving the dock at Ucluelet’s inner boat basin on-foot on May 16.
Their friends and family have not heard from them since then and have reported the two men missing to the RCMP.
A wide-spread search effort, including posters with photos and information being put up in communities across Vancouver Island, and a Facebook group named ‘Find Ryan and Dan’ was launched on Sunday.
Westcoast Inland Search and Rescue confirmed they have been tasked to join the search effort early Tuesday morning
“We are investigating and still working with the RCMP to create an on-the-ground plan,” WISAR manager Liam McNeil told the Westerly News. “At this point, we’re continuing our investigation, trying to isolate locations to do a physical search and we’ve made some recommendations to the RCMP…We look forward to trying to assist in any way possible.”
WISAR has a roster of roughly 30 members and covers the entire West Coast from Barkley to Clayoquot Sound, according to McNeil.
“At this point the search range is very open-ended. We don’t want to rule out any areas at this point so we’re trying to keep a very open mind. We’re liaising with other Search and Rescue groups to try and create a plan to approach this search effectively,” he said.
“We look at a number of factors and we use a number of different investigative techniques and search techniques in order to try and isolate areas where individuals might be, including looking at their subject profile, last known location, direction of travel and so on.”
He added anyone who may have seen the two men must immediately contact the Ucluelet RCMP at 250-726-7773.
“If they remember anything, please contact the RCMP,” he said.
Archbald lives in Squamish and is married with two young children. He has short strawberry blonde hair and “stubble on his face,” according to police, and was wearing a long-sleeve grey fleece top, green pants and flip flops when he was last seen, according to police, who say Archbald was also carrying a large “dry bag.”
Daley owns a property in Jordan River, roughly 70 kilometres from Victoria, and is described by police as having short dark hair and was wearing a grey baseball cap with a black logo, a white t-shirt and dark pants and was carrying a “yellow/green backpack” and large white duffel bag when he was last seen, according to police.
