They were without food, without proper hiking gear, and hadn’t been seen for nearly a week.
But today, Lynne Carmody and Rick Moynan walked into the arms of rescue crews in Cathedral Provincial Park, stunning the dozens of search and rescue volunteers who had been looking for the couple since June 22.
“This is amazing,” said Jeff Smedley of Prince George Search and Rescue, who said the couple was found around 3:30 today.
Smedley’s crew was one of 17 around the province, from as far away as Squamish, Prince George and Comox Valley, who had been assisting with the search.
Carmody and Moyan are a couple from Ontario in their mid-50’s. They didn’t return to their vehicle after a day hike on June 22 to Glacier Lake in Cathedral Provincial Park, southwest of Keremeos.
“They were in a heavily wooded area,” said Paul Berry of Comox Valley Ground Search and Rescue, who was today’s search leader.
Berry says the two were not well-equipped or well-trained.
“They literally went out as if they were on a walk in the park,” he said.
“Lesson to be learned is that the back country in B.C. is treacherous, hazardous, difficult terrain and you need to be well equipped and well-trained. They were neither.”
WATCH: Paul Berry from Comox Valley Search and Rescue led the search to find the missing couple and spoke to BC1’s Sonia Sunger about how it all unfolded
But Berry says they made the right choice when they got lost by heading to water. They spent several days in a drainage-valley, where they built a lean-to for shelter, kept hydrated, and waited for help.
On Saturday night, search crews were close enough to the couple that they could see the ropes on the helicopters that were pulling people out of the search area. They walked up the hill to the landing area, stunning the search crews.
“Best possible ending for one of these searches,” says Barry.
The two will be taken to hospital as a precaution, but other than a few scrapes from falling were in good condition, said Barry.
– With files from Lauren Pullen
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