Cowichan Search and Rescue search manager Shauneen Nichols was gobsmacked, Wednesday morning, to hear the body of Ben Kilmer had been found last week.
“No I haven’t heard. I’m just hearing about this,” she said. “I’m shocked.”
Nichols said the entire Cowichan Search and Rescue team held their annual Annual General Meeting the evening of Oct. 23 and “none of us knew.”
The missing persons case held a special place for Cowichan SAR. They dedicated countless hours of manpower and resources and guided a massive amount of volunteers both in an official capacity and unofficially in the hope of a successful ending to the search for Kilmer.
“A lot of resources and a lot of other groups and their resources were used, too,” she explained.
While the outcome was tragic, Nichols said it will help with closure.
“I’m glad he’s been found,” she said. “With Darreld Rayner it was 10 years we were left wondering.”
More reaction from social media:
More to come as it becomes available.
