There was still no sign of the 55 year-old woman who is missing on Heather Mountain as of 4 p.m. on June 27.
Cowichan Search & Rescue search manager Mitch Wright said search teams from Ladysmith and Metchosin, as well as a search dog and its handler, have joined the approximately 15 CSR members in the search for the Duncan area woman, who went missing on the mountain at around 4 p.m. on June 26.
“It’s been very challenging weather with a low ceiling so we haven’t been able to use any aircraft in the search yet,” he said.
“We’re optimistic the woman will be located. It’s only been about 24 hours since she went missing so we intend to continue the search and there’s no indication that we’re ramping down anytime soon.”
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The Duncan-area woman, whose name has still not been released, was hiking on Heather Mountain, a 1,250-metre summit west of Lake Cowichan, on Wednesday afternoon when she became separated from the group and became lost when they were descending from the snow-capped top of the mountain.
The woman was keeping in touch with her friends by text and said she would return to the summit and try to reconnect with the trail down the mountain.
However, that’s the last the group heard from her and it’s assumed that her cell phone lost charge.
CSR searchers spent the night looking for her and reached the summit in the morning.
“The mountain has a lot of area for us to cover, including many side roads and trails,” Wright said.
CSR president Tudway-Cains said he isn’t aware if the woman had any food and water or was properly attired to spend a night on the mountain and cope with the rain in the area today.
“All we know right now is that she had a small gear bag with her, but we don’t know what it contained,” he said.
