Terrance Michael Landon, 57, has been missing since December 26, 2013. He was building a cabin on Crown land near James Lake east of Kelowna. Now, three years later, the Okanagan Forest Task Force plan to clean up his camp site.
Image Credit: Facebook
October 26, 2016 - 11:44 AM
KELOWNA - After a successful cleanup of two trashed backcountry shooting ranges in Kelowna, the Okanagan Forest Task Force is readying for their third cleanup since the group was formed this summer.
And this time they’re doing it to honour a man who went missing from the area three years ago.
“We are planning on cleaning up what’s left from the sad disappearance of Terrance Michael Landon,” Kane Blake, OFTF president says. “Terrance went missing December 26, 2013 and left behind a truck and camper trailer that has been repeatedly vandalized.”
Landon, 57, was last seen on December 26, 2013 at a remote campsite east of Kelowna near James Lake.
RCMP say Landon had been living in a tent trailer on Crown land for several months and was building a cabin in the woods before a missing person report was filed on June 8, 2014.
A friend had found his trailer and vehicle, but Landon never returned.
“The truck has been shot at and the trailer has been trashed and ripped apart,” Blake says. “We are doing this clean up with sadness in our hearts and him in our thoughts.”
The clean-up will take place Nov. 5. Those interested in volunteering are asked to meet at James Lake at 9 a.m.
Volunteers with the Okanagan Forest Task Force spent hours cleaning up Little Iraq on the way to Postill Lake.
Image Credit: Wayne Dagenais
“We also have a couple other places in the area that we will be trying to clean up as well that have been the scene of illegal dumping,” Blake says. “We are always looking for more people who are not afraid to get their hands dirty and come help.”
The Okanagan Forest Task Force is a grassroots organization that came together on Facebook after a post about an area of Kelowna known as "Little Iraq." Volunteers, many of them shooting and hunting enthusiasts, spent hours returning Little Iraq to its natural state.
The group also installs hidden cameras at various locations around the Okanagan in an attempt to catch those who leave garbage behind.
The group was recently granted non-profit status and plan to fundraise in order to organize more cleanups.
For more information visit the Okanagan Forest Task Force Facebook page or send an email to okanaganforesttaskforce@gmail.com.
“We would like to thank the Regional Waste Reduction Office for the bin and supplies along with Winn Rentals for the equipment to do this clean up,” Blake says. “It's with the support from our sponsors and amazing comunity that make this all possible.”
To contact a reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw or call 250-718-0428 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, 2016