Possible sighting of missing family in northern BC

DEASE LAKE (NEWS 1130) – RCMP say there’s been a possible sighting of  family of four from Oregon, after they mysteriously disappeared. Their car was found abandoned in northern BC this week.

Jeffery Phan, 24, Michelle Lesaca, 24, Satana Phan, 3, and Satan Phan, 2, are all missing.

Dease Lake Mounties say air search crews spotted four people matching the description of the family.

“Terrace, Stewart and Smithers Search and Rescue have spotted four individuals that may be the family they have been looking for,” says the RCMP detachment in an email. “Further resources are being obtained to reach the people and bring then to safety. Although the identity of the individuals has not been confirmed, authorities are hopeful that these are who they have been looking for.”

The family’s empty 2018 Toyota Yaris was discovered by a construction worker on Monday about 500 metres from a highway near Dease Lake, but it’s believed to have been there for about a week. The vehicle is black with Oregon plates reading 099KRW.

They entered Canada via the Roosville Border crossing near Fernie on Jun. 9, and then police believe their car was abandoned the next day nearly 2,000km away.

“It’s certainly highly unusual to have this sort of thing happen so this is why the police are actively searching and this is the top priority of the detachment at this time,” Cpl. Madonna Saunderson said.

It looks like the car had run out of gas, Saunderson says, and a note had been left indicating the family had gone in search of fuel, but checks with nearby gas stations were unsuccessful.

Mounties have called Oregon Police and family members for the missing people and have discovered they had other travel plans.

“The family planned to travel to the Philippines but later changed their plans. Evidence suggests that on Friday, May 25, they checked into the airport in Portland, Oregon, USA, but cancelled the ticket and never boarder the plane,” the RCMP says in a statement.

There’s also a K9 team helping in the search as well.

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