The ongoing search for Melissa McDevitt has been expanded as other partners join the search from across the province.
It’s day seven of the search for the neurodivergent and high-risk woman in the Sooke Pot Holes area.
A number of crews have headed over to Vancouver Island to assist, including a contingent from North Shore Rescue.
“We are heading over to Sooke Trail to assist in the search. Hopefully, we will find some sort of sign,” said Mike Danks, with North Shore Rescue.
“It’s been a tough one for them and they have been working hard to try to locate her. I think all the teams that are around in the neighbouring areas are doing their best to support (as well).”
Comox Valley Search and Rescue is also supporting the searches. They have seven people participating in the search, including their president Paul Berry, who is acting as the level two search manager for the operation.
“Not a single clue has been located to provide any indication of the whereabouts of Melissa,” Paul Berry told Global News on Saturday.
“We know that Melissa, although an avid hiker, had mobility issues. She also knew she had limited daylight when she set out.”
Berry said 17 search teams and 170 personnel from across B.C. are participating in Saturday’s search.
McDevitt’s family last spoke to her on Thursday, Dec. 8. She was supposed to travel from Victoria to Vancouver to board a flight, but she never arrived.
Her family has previously said her disappearance is extremely out of character and worrisome.
McDevitt’s vehicle, a 2015 grey Subaru Forester with a North Carolina plate, was also located in the area of the Sooke Pot Holes on Dec. 10.
On Dec. 12, Sooke RCMP released a CCTV video of the Charters River and Hatchery parking lot. The video showed McDevitt entering the trails wearing a burgundy top and blue pants, and carrying two hiking poles.
McDevitt is described as five feet tall and slim, weighing 105 pounds. Her family told police she has a very small build and has “children’s sized” feet.
She also lives with alopecia and may be wearing a wig or have short, dyed, rainbow-coloured hair, according to police.
Sooke RCMP has assumed conduct of the investigation from Victoria.
“The circumstances under which she has gone missing are considered very high-risk,” police previously said in a release.
Investigators are asking anyone who saw McDevitt or her vehicle from Thursday, Dec. 8, to Wednesday to come forward and call (250) 995-7654 ext. 1.
If you see her, you are asked to stay with her and call 911 immediately.
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