Search on hold for Kelowna woman feared to have been swept into creek

The search for a Kelowna, B.C., woman feared to have been swept away in the rising waters of Mission Creek is on hold.

Const. Mike Della-Paolera said RCMP and search and rescue crews were out until late Wednesday looking for signs of Chelsea Cardno, 31, when they decided to put the effort on hold until better search conditions prevail.

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“They searched last night until it got too dark and they are going to meet with RCMP tomorrow in hopes that Saturday they can get in there,” Della-Paolera said Thursday.

Ed Henczel, of Central Okanagan Search and Rescue, said the search has been exhaustive since Cardno went missing Tuesday, with 25 volunteers and a contingent of RCMP officers combing through the 11-kilometre stretch of creek.

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“We have covered the greenway on foot, with drones, with helicopter, swift water teams and a boat in Okanagan lake,” he said. “After two days, we haven’t found anything of significance.”

More rain is expected to fall in the next day, and that may change creek conditions.

At the peak Tuesday, Environment Canada said that Kelowna’s Mission Creek was seeing water rush through at a rate of 115 cubic metres per second. At the lowest point Wednesday, the water was moving at 48 cubic metres per second and by Thursday morning, it reached a rate of 55 cubic metres per second.

Kelowna RCMP said Cardno was reported missing on Tuesday. She last seen leaving her residence on Dougall Road at 8 a.m.

“At the time she left her residence, she was going to walk her German Shepherd, JJ, near the Mission Greenway,” police said.

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“Frontline officers searched the surrounding area of Mission Greenway and located Chelsea’s white BMW parked at the north end of Pasadena Road.”