British tourist Tom Billings confirmed dead

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The BC Coroners Service has identified human remains found on Cypress Mountain last month as those of Tom Billings.

The 22-year-old British tourist was last seen on November 25, 2013 and was reported missing about a week later. It was suggested that he had gone to the mountains on the North Shore. He was supposed to head to the US at the end of that month and then return to England on December 7th, but never arrived.

He had been spending eight weeks travelling around North America. His disappearance prompted a massive search for him.

On April 11, 2016, a hiker reported what appeared to be human remains to police. The remains have now been identified and the BC Coroners Service is continuing to investigate the death. However, it is not considered suspicious.

The VPD says officers called Tom’s parents last night to share the sad news in a two-hour conversation.

“Our team put in thousands of hours looking for Tom,” says Mike Danks with North Shore Rescue. “This has been a huge focus for our team. There wasn’t a search that we went on that we didn’t have our eyes out for any remains — I’m just so relieved that the family is finally going to be provided with some closure.”

He tells us the big challenge with the mountains on the North Shore is hikers can find themselves in remote areas very quickly. “And once you get off the trail, it’s really a needle in a haystack.”

“I think this really reinforces to locals and to people visiting Vancouver that it’s absolutely essential that you let somebody know where you’re going, how long you think you’re going to be, and when they should call for help for you.”

Danks says we may never know what exactly happened to Tom. “We’ll certainly do our best to find out anything we can to find out what happened to Tom, but at this point, we don’t have any further information.”

Statement from the Billings family (shared by Vancouver Police):

The family wants to thank the general public for the support and assistance in the search to find their son Tom over the last 2 1/2 years. The family specifically wishes to express their deepest appreciation to the members of the North Shore Search and Rescue team and the helicopter pilots of Talon Aviation, the staff and members of the British consulate in Vancouver for all their continued support, and finally to the VPD in general and the Missing Persons Unit in particular for their continued and persistent work to find their son Tom.

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