A man, 58, is safe and sound in his Warfield care home after wandering off in the early hours on Sunday.
Mike Hudson, from South Columbia SAR (Search and Rescue), says the call to help locate a missing person came in shortly after 2 a.m.
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Finding the man was considered of high urgency due to the subject’s mental illness and ongoing medical concerns.
“He had gone quite some time without food or water and was not equipped to be outdoors for long periods of time, nor does he have experience,” Hudson explained. “Our team responded quickly and with the help of Rossland SAR and Nelson SAR, we put 17 searchers out in the field.”
At first, ground crews had limited information to go on. But as the morning progressed, police were able to nail down details, including a credible tip from a Teck employee, who on his way to work the night previous, had seen the missing man.
As the search was narrowed to a specific area in lower Warfield, Grand Forks and Castlegar SARs joined the effort.
The missing man was located at approximately 10:40 a.m. near the highway junction into Annable.
“He had sought shelter in a dumpster at A&J Body Shop beside the Tunnel Pub or Benedict’s Steakhouse,” Hudson said. “He was found in good spirits and welcomed SAR members as they made contact with him.”
Other than being thirsty and hungry, the man was reportedly unscathed.
“What a great ending to a search on Mother’s Day,” said Hudson. “We had the great pleasure of telling his mother he was found alive and well and we have him under the care of paramedics.”
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