FILE PHOTO

(KIM ANDERSON / iNFOnews.ca)

LUMBY - The search for an Alberta man missing in the North Okanagan continues, however police suspect he may not be alive.

Search crews have been looking for the man, identified by police on Monday afternoon, April 3, as Bruce Van Hasstrecht, 57, since Saturday when Lumby RCMP went to his cabin in the 3500 block of Mabel Lake Road to confirm his whereabouts.

Bruce Van Hasstrecht

Image Credit: RCMP handout

Lumby RCMP requested Vernon Search and Rescue and the police dog team after arriving at the man’s cabin, police say in a media release.

An exhaustive search by Vernon Search and Rescue and RCMP around Mabel Lake over the weekend failed to locate the Alberta resident, who has a seasonal residence at Mabel Lake. Crews scoured the area by ground, helicopter and boat.

“RCMP investigators did find evidence that Bruce Van Hasstrecht was at the lake’s edge at one point prior to his disappearance.  A search effort of Mabel Lake itself will resume once the RCMP Underwater Recovery Team arrives in Lumby,” Cpl. Dan Moskaluk says in the release.

At this time Van Hasstrecht is considered missing, however police suspect he may have entered the lake and perished, Moskaluk says.

Leigh Pearson, with Vernon Search and Rescue, says crews were called out at roughly 10:30 p.m. Saturday, April 1, to assist with the search. Crews searched throughout Saturday night and into Sunday morning, wrapping up around 5 a.m., before heading out again at 9 a.m. Members covered a roughly one square kilometre.

Search and Rescue stood down Sunday afternoon.

— This story was updated at 1:30 p.m. April 3, 2017 to add information from the RCMP, and again at 9 a.m. April 4, 2017 to add a photo. 

To contact a reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston or call 250-309-5230 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2017