It’s a missing man mystery dating back a half century. And a Kelowna woman remains convinced the answer to her father’s disappearance is still to be found in the densely forested hillsides of Little White mountain.
On November 1st 1964, George Simnett left for a day’s hunting in the area with three other men. The party split up but Simnett failed to rendezvous at the end of the day.
The massive search for the experienced hunter was headline news. It involved about 100 volunteers, aircraft, a police tracking dog and a huge horn that could be heard from 12 miles. But no trace of Simnett was ever found.
Judith Wagner never stops wondering what became of her father. “Well of course. My mother died 20 years ago and she would have loved to have known what happened. My three brothers would have loved to have known. I’m the only one left now and I’d like to know before I go.”
Wagner also never gives up hope some trace of her father, remains or possessions, will be found. “The bush is opening up more and I sometimes think people might be hiking through there and find his gun or knife. Maybe somebody has already found something and they just think ‘Look what I found.'”
Wagner is convinced her dad got hurt rather than lost, perhaps tumbling into a tangle of dead-fall trees that littered the area from a previous forest fire.
The search, hindered by bad weather, was called off after eight days. George Simnett was 50 years old and the head teacher at a Kelowna elementary school.
“I even now look up to Little White mountain sometimes and I talk to him. I say ‘Dad where are you, what happened to you?'”
Wagner has provided a DNA sample to Kelowna RCMP for identification purposes should human remains ever be found in the area.
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