Officers will be combing the Bow River on Wednesday to look for bodies.
The search will start at the Bearspaw Dam west of Valley Ridge and then continue along the river, moving south toward city limits and then east to the Saskatchewan border.
Members of the Calgary Police Service (CPS), the Calgary Fire Department (CFD) and the RCMP will take part in the search, which will also use the police HAWCS helicopter.
“We’ll start off with an aerial search, which is the most efficient,” Inspector Don Coleman with CPS said. “Then the flight crew and observers, if they see anything along the river that they feel might be human remains, they’ll GPS pin it and then ground units will continue that search.”
Calgary police said in a Tuesday news release the search isn’t for a specific individual.
“It is an unfortunate reality that some people voluntarily enter or fall into the dangerous waters of the river and are unable to get themselves out.”
“By conducting the search, police hope to be able to bring some answers to families that have missing loved ones.”
If any bodies are located, members of the CFD aquatic dive unit will help to recover them.
“Anything we can do to assist bringing closure to families that have lost loved ones, that is the ultimate goal,” Carol Henke with the CFD said.
Police will then work with the Medical Examiner’s office to determine the identity of the person and whether their death was criminal in nature.
“The search is being conducted as water levels of the Bow River are at their lowest and clearest at this time of year.” police said.
With files from Doug Vaessen
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