Search and rescue teams and Cochrane RCMP have put in 644 hours in the last week, searching First Nations land west of Calgary for Sara Coates.
Coates was last seen in the southwest Calgary neighbourhood of Stanley Park on Aug. 2, 2012. Her disappearance has been investigated by both Calgary police and the Columbia Valley RMCP in B.C.
Cochrane RCMP found her minivan in a secluded area approximately 50 kilometres west of Cochrane on the Morley First Nation Reserve in October 2013.
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RCMP said Wednesday weather conditions allowed them to refocus their search.
“Last week we attended our previous search areas to assess the region in light of the extremely dry weather this year,” Cochrane RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff said in a statement. “We discovered a large amount of land that was previously covered in water was now dry and we wanted to ensure that we took full advantage of this.”
Over 50 search and rescue volunteers from Cochrane, Calgary, Foothills, Didsbury and Badlands helped RCMP to conduct searches on Sept. 12 and Sept. 16.
Police ask anyone who may have had contact with Coates or anyone who recalls seeing her 1992 blue Chevy Astro van around the summer of 2012 to call Cochrane RCMP at 403-851-8000.
You can also contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).
With files from Global’s Melissa Gilligan