North Shore Rescue scaling back search for missing hiker

NORTH SHORE (NEWS 1130) – The search for a hiker believed to be in the Hanes Valley near Grouse Mountain is being scaled back.

Mike Danks with North Shore Rescue says it’s a tough call to make, but Carl Couture hasn’t been seen since late last month. Danks admits things don’t look good.

“At this point, given the amount of people that we’ve had in that area, the amount of aircraft that has been going back there, we’ve got to be realistic here. I think at this point, Carl is probably not [responsive], even if he is still alive. But we’re not going to give up hope. We’re going to continue to search.”

“We’re going to be going over all of the GPS tracks and search assignments that we have to date and just really have a good look at those and hopefully, think outside the box… See what other key areas we can target,” he adds.

Danks points out the weather has drastically changed in the backcountry.

“There is fresh snow back there. In the time between when we were notified of Carl’s predicament… we had some significant weather in those couple days. That does not sit well with us at all. Those couple days can make a huge difference.”

Footage from Grouse Mountain shows Couture heading for the backcountry around noon on Halloween. The 24-year-old had just moved to BC from Eastern Canada, and wasn’t an experienced hiker.

Couture is described as white, 6’2″, and 165 lbs., with short blond hair and brown eyes. He wears glasses.

If you saw Couture on or after Halloween — especially around the North Shore trails — you’re asked to call Vancouver Police at 604-717-3321.

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