RCMP suspend search for missing B.C. rancher Ben Tyner after nearly a week

MERRITT, B.C. – Police have suspended the search for a missing rancher in the wilderness north of Merritt, B.C., after six days of exhaustive effort turned up nothing.

Thirty-two-year-old Ben Tyner was last seen on the afternoon of Saturday, Jan. 26, at the Nicola ranch where he’d been hired as a manager in November.

A local tracker said he found Tyner’s horse wandering alone in the bush in full tack early the following Monday.

RCMP say a “large scale search” involved dog tracking teams, air support, drones, horseback riders and community volunteers.

But in a statement Sunday evening, Mounties say the search has been suspended due to “extensive coverage in the area where the horse was found.”

Extreme cold and poor weather conditions in the area were also factors.

“Although the search is suspended at this time, the RCMP will continue to investigate and if further info is located the search can be reinstated,” Const. Tracy Dunsmore said in a statement.