Woman’s remains found at site of slide in Johnsons Landing

JOHNSONS LANDING (NEWS1130) – This afternoon, Mounties say searchers have found a young woman’s remains at the site of that massive landslide that came down in the tiny community of Johnsons Landing near Kaslo last Thursday.  The remains have not been identified yet, but they were discovered 30 feet under the debris and 10 feet from the foundation of a home.

Yesterday, crews found a man’s body in the kitchen of a home.  That body is believed to be 60-year-old Valentine Webber.  His two daughters 21-year-old Diana, 17-year-old Rachel, and 64-year-old German neighbour Petra Frehse were in the home with him at the time of the slide.

Meantime, 16 members of Vancouver’s Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Team (HUSAR) arrived back home today after searching the muddy debris for survivors.

Vancouver Police Sergeant Craig Cairns says it was one of his team members who found a body yesterday under the debris that swept over three homes. 

“We suspected they were in the kitchen because we had information, intelligence that they were in the kitchen area just before the slide.  So, we knew they were in that area and we were looking for the kitchen.  All we found was the loft and the office area,” explained Cairns, saying they used an excavator to dig into the kitchen and find the victim.

The BC Coroners Service as taken over the investigation, which is now a recovery effort.  “When you’re on the ground, it’s complete devastation, it’s unbelievable.  There was a fight to stay,” said Cairns as his team stood behind him. 

Cairns adds his teammates were assigned to work alongside another search and rescue team already on the ground.  “The first day was pretty good because it was very, very hot, so the ground had started to stiffen up a bit and it wasn’t too bad to walk,” he says.  “The second day, it started to get rainy and cloudy and misty and the ground started to get softer, and then the third day it was really bad; it got extremely muddy.  There was a lot of black soil that had come up from the septic tanks.”

This isn’t Cairns’ first time at the scene of a devastating landslide.  In 2005, he was there when a slide came down in North Vancouver killing one woman, however, Cairns says the Johnsons Landing slide is much larger.  “On a scale of one to 10, North Vancouver would be maybe a four, and this would be like a nine or an eight.”

He adds the people of Kaslo were very supportive of the research teams.  “They were bringing us muffins and donuts and cakes and all kinds of stuff with nice little messages on top of the stuff saying how thankful they were that we were there, just very appreciative of what we had done.”

BC Environment Minister Terry Lake says the deadly landslide at Johnsons Landing was the result of high amounts of rain in the region.

Both Premier Christy Clark and NDP Leader Adrian Dix have extended their condolences to the families and friends of victims caught in the Johnsons Landing slide.

Efforts to recover the remains of the two other people will continue on Tuesday as long as the site remains safe for the searchers.

Meantime, it’s clear it will be some time before life is back to normal in the community

The Red Cross is taking donations to help with the recovery.

Amrit Dhatt with the aid agency says they began moving resources into area on Sunday, and can provide a wide range of assistance to people whose homes are cut off, or destroyed.

“That can include shelter, clean-up kits to help them clean up their residences, food, clothing, medication and any psycho-social support.” 

Dhatt says although only four homes were completely destroyed, about 35-40 people have been impacted and she expects that number could grow.

Money for the effort is coming from the Red Cross severe weather fund.