‘Dogged determination’: search resumes for missing hiker on Vancouver Island – BC | 24CA News
Nearly seven months after her disappearance, the search has formally resumed for a lacking 39-year-old girl who disappeared whereas climbing in Sooke in December.
An intensive search was launched to search out Melissa McDevitt, who was reported lacking on December 10, 2022, nevertheless it was confirmed unsuccessful and ultimately suspended.
However, a devoted group of backcountry hikers found the watch McDevitt was carrying on the time she disappeared. The watch recorded her climbing route and the knowledge was saved on an app.
The new info prompted Sooke RCMP and the Juan de Fuca Search and Rescue groups to start a refined search in an space first examined in December.
Dozens of police and search and rescue members gathered Saturday morning close to the Sooke Potholes to choose the search again up.
“It’s literally like finding a needle in a haystack, but at this point this is new information and we are back out again today,” mentioned Cpl. Joe Holmes with the Sooke RCMP.
80 searchers are on the bottom together with a canine workforce.
“This search came out of dogged determination and persistence of several community members who have been out every week since the search was suspended,” mentioned Paul Berry, with Comox Valley Search and Rescue.
McDevitt’s mother and father, Tom and Maggie, are in Virginia and unable to hitch the seek for their daughter.
Crews from throughout Vancouver Island plan to be on the bottom your entire weekend.
“Every single searcher to do this work left with the intent of returning Melissa home to her family,” mentioned Berry.
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