A group effort by several law enforcement agencies, including the use of the Edmonton police helicopter, went into rescuing a woman and her three children who lost their way while hiking at Elk Island National Park over the weekend.
Alberta RCMP media relations officer Cpl. Troy Savinkoff said the initial 911 call came in from the father of the woman who was lost with her six-year-old child and two three-year-old children.
“They already had some people out there searching and at that time, had been unsuccessful,” Savinkoff said.
The collaborative effort began from there. At about 9:20 p.m. Saturday, the crew in the Edmonton Police Service’s Air 1 heard a call on police radio from the Fort Saskatchewan RCMP. Mounties were searching for the family, who was lost at the park east of Edmonton.
Edmonton police said the woman was able to make one phone call before her cellphone died, which prompted the RCMP search at around 8:30 p.m.
“As it was dark, the temperature was dropping, and the children involved were very young, our Air 1 crew was understandably concerned when they heard the call, and went into action right away,” said Staff Sgt. Paul Shafer with the EPS flight operations section.
Amanda Wert, the mother who got lost with her children, told Global News that they arrived at the park at about 1:30 p.m. to start the hike. It was at about 4:30 p.m. when she realized she was lost — and that she had no cell reception where she was.
“At that point, I’m like, ‘You know what? I’m going to just stay on the trail… stay straight and keep the kids moving, and then as soon as I get cell reception, I’ll call somebody,'” she said, noting it began getting dark and cold. “That was the only thing I could think of at the time.”
While she had no reception, Wert said she remembered her cellphone was 80 per cent charged. By the time she got reception and was able to make a call to her husband, she was down to less than 20 per cent.
“(I now) know things that I’ll do that I didn’t do before,” she said. “Using a different app that doesn’t waste battery on your phone.”
She said in her brief call with her husband, she was able to tell him at least the general area of the park they were in. After, she said several family members began searching for her and her children, and then her father-in-law called police.
Savinkoff said members from Parks Canada, as well as two RCMP police service dogs also joined the search. The Sherwood Park fire department also offered up a drone if emergency crews needed it.
“In this particular case, we’re dealing with very young people who weren’t planning to stay out overnight. It was fairly high risk and for that reason we were able to active as many resources,” he said.
“We were fairly fortunate in that the actual location where she had started was on Hayburger Trail and we knew that so we had an immediate start point to start looking.”
Wert said she took every effort to make sure her children would not have a chance to panic.
“I didn’t give them a chance to feel (scared) until later on because there was no point in feeling it out there,” she said. “I had my kids at the top of their lungs singing ‘ants go marching’ over and over again… just so they didn’t hear the animal sounds (in the park)… so they would just keep walking.
The mother added her six-year-old son helped the family get through the situation.
“He wasn’t scared,” Wert said. “He was very good, very helpful. He kept my twins walking with me.”
Air 1 arrived in the area and eventually found the hikers about four kilometres from where they were presumed to be. Emergency crews on the ground used a snowmobile to get into the area, which was remoted and covered with deep snow.
“We saw the spotlight, and he was excited,” Wert said of her six-year-old’s reaction. “Jumping up and down and waving his arms.
“(I felt) relieved, thankful.”
She added that she and her children “were a little cold, but we were good,” noting police found them at about 11:30 p.m.
Wert added that the incident has taught her to make sure to bring extra socks and layers of clothing for her children when they go on such hikes, just in case.
Video released by the EPS Tuesday detailed the rescue efforts. In the video, you can hear the exchange between the crew in Air 1 and members of the RCMP.
“Fort Sask RCMP from Air 1, we’ve got your folks here. They’re in pretty deep off of this trail,” a person in Air 1 can be heard saying as the video shows one person waving their arms in the air in an attempt to get the attention of the helicopter.
Members in the air directed crews on the ground to the right location. The video shows the snowmobile arrive in the treed area where the hikers were waiting.
“Your sledder and the family is on the way back to you,” the member in Air 1 said.
Const. Matthew Weavell was the Air 1 pilot. He said the team used night goggles and infrared cameras to search the trail from the sky.
“Although it’s not the biggest national park out there, there are a lot of places you can go to get lost,” he said.
“The reality is, there’s a ton of trees, it’s super, super dark out there. It’s hard to tell which way you’re going. All the trails are in big loops and there’s a ton of lakes so it’s easy to get disoriented.
“Having kids at home of a similar age, I can imagine how scared the kids were. I knew it was important to get them out of there.”
Police said the hikers were able to make it out to safety. Weavell added it was about 0 C outside, with winds forecast to reach 50 kilometres an hour later in the evening.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Elk Island National Park said Parks Canada personnel with first aid and search and rescue training were involved in the search.
“Parks Canada leads ground search and rescue in national parks, while working with partner organizations like the RCMP and Edmonton Police Service, to provide emergency response services to visitors. With assistance from the RCMP and Edmonton Police Service Air 1 helicopter, Parks Canada personnel used a snowmobile and rescue sled to reach the family. Parks Canada is pleased the family was found safe.”
This isn’t the first time the police helicopter has been used in a rescue like this. In 2020, the EPS shared Air 1 video of a similar situation at Elk Island National Park, where a man and his two dogs were rescued after losing their way deep in the park.
Police were able to direct Park Rangers to the man and he was taken by quad back to EMS paramedics waiting in the parking lot. The hiker and his dogs were not injured in the ordeal.
Savinkoff said whenever anybody heads out on a hike it’s important for them to know their ability and be prepared. There are a lot of unknowns, injuries can happen and there may be animals in the area, he said. His number one piece of advice is to make sure you tell someone where you’re going, be specific about the journey you intend on taking and don’t stray from that plan.
“Have someone who knows where you’re going, who knows what your plan is so that they can communicate with us: Number 1) to know if something is not quite right and Number 2) if something is wrong, that we can get going finding you in a hurry.”
Elk Island National Park is located about 30 kilometres east of Edmonton along the Yellowhead Highway.
–With files from Phil Heidenreich, Global News