Search On Salmon River Suspended
Scene of tragedy on Salmon River – image courtesy Prince George RCMP
Prince George, B.C.- The search for two men, missing on the Salmon River has been suspended.
The two were part of a snowmobiling group that were on the banks of the Salmon River Monday afternoon . One had tried to cross the river, but went through the ice. Two others in the group went into the water in an effort to rescue him, but only one made it out.
Prince George Search and Rescue team members have scoured the area downstream from the incident since the incident occurred, but have not been able to locate or recover the two.
“The conditions on the river have become extremely dangerous” says Trent Blair, of Prince George Search and Rescue, and who led the search for the two men. Blair says the Salmon river has risen between 10 and 12 inches since the incident on Monday. “The river conditions are changing hourly, making for very dangerous conditions for the public and for our team”.
P.G. Search and Rescue, along with air support, covered the length of the Salmon River from the site of the incident through to the Fraser River.
Blair says PG Search and Rescue was no longer able to conduct a search without endangering the team members. “Thin ice is always dangerous, but even more so when it’s over moving water. Not only have the water levels risen, there are now large chunks of ice flowing in the river.”
The case is now, officially, a missing persons case and is under the jurisdiction of the RCMP. Blair says his team would return to the Salmon River if the RCMP request their assistance in any recovery effort should the bodies of the two men be located.
The missing men are Prince George residents, aged 36 and 31. Their names have not been released.
Comments
Again, a big thank you to all the men and women volunteers who participated in this search. I named their organizations in a previous post. A lot of effort by a lot of people was put into a very thorough search along both sides of the river, including forays onto the river ice by a specialist team from S.A.R.
Four slow passes of the river were made before sunset on the first day, by a helicopter with two spotters on board, untold numbers of passes by fixed wing aircraft with spotters on board on the second and third days. Trained volunteer spotters posted on shore at numerous locations along the river.
More could not have been done.
metalman.
Aww.. this is so sad, condolances to these men’s families and their friends.
I don’t know if this is the time or place, but if SARS had drones equipped with infrared cameras that could pickup the smallest of heat signatures, it might help in the future when someone goes missing in the cold snow or water? Just a thought.
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