Update: Melissa McDevitt has been located deceased, More info https://missingpeople.ca/woman-missing-for-over-a-year-in-sooke-bc-found-dead-melissa-mcdevitt-38/
Six months after Melissa McDevitt disappeared while hiking in a remote area near Sooke, RCMP are reactivating the search.
McDevitt’s smartwatch has helped narrow down the trail where the 39-year-old may have been hiking the day she went missing.
This weekend, search and rescue volunteers from across Vancouver Island will band together once more, this time with the goal of recovery and providing closure for the avid hiker’s family.
“We plan to operate both Saturday and Sunday with teams about nine teams from the Island, we have a much more focused area to search based on some of the data we’ve received from the family and those who have been continuing to search since December,” said Paul Berry with Comox Valley Search and Rescue.
The new data comes from McDevitt’s Garmin watch showing the day before she disappeared, she hiked a trail out and back in the same area. Giving RCMP reason to believe the following day, Friday, Dec. 9, she headed out the same way with the intention of hiking further.
“We’re searching much further north and looking at all trails leading off to the north of where she finished on the Thursday night,” added Berry.
FULL STORY: https://www.cheknews.ca/search-for-missing-hiker-melissa-mcdevitt-back-on-1159294/
