A 46-year-old man from Anahim Lake is safe and sound after he was separated from a mushroom-picking group and spent a night huddled under a tree.
On June 24, four mushroom pickers from Anahim Lake First Nation went out picking mushrooms on the Lehman Road area, the RCMP said.
The team had planned to meet back up later that afternoon at 3 p.m., but only three made it to the gathering site.
The three individuals, along with two other band members, went looking for their friend throughout the night but were unable to find him.
Anahim Lake RCMP were notified of the missing male on the morning of June 25 and an organized search was immediately deployed.
The search team, consisting of local community band members and ATVs, started at first light as the group stayed close together and used air horns to assist with communication.
The RCMP Kodiak airplane from Prince George Air Services was called to assist with an aerial search.
At approximately 9:45 a.m. the pilot of the Kodiak plane, Neil Penney, reported he had spotted a small plume of smoke coming from the heavy timber, approximately five kilometres from the location of where the male went missing.
GPS co-ordinates were obtained and given to the search and rescue ground crew.
With the assistance of a White Saddle Air services helicopter, an RCMP Officer, the Chief of the Ulkatcho Band and an ambulance attendant flew to the location of the smoke and found the missing man huddled under a tree.
The missing person was assisted to the helicopter and transported to the medical clinic in Anahim Lake where he received medical treatment for hypothermia.
“We were able to locate this missing person due to the collaborative efforts of the Ulkatcho First Nations Community, Ground Search and Rescue, Prince George Air Services and White Saddle Air,” said Anahim Lake Detachment Commander Sgt. Blake McBride. “It was a successful outcome and we thank all those who were involved with this search”.