One boater still missing off B.C.’s north coast; search called off

VICTORIA – The search has been called off for a boater who is missing off British Columbia’s northern coast.

Lt.-Cmdr. Desmond James of Victoria’s Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre says officials received a call of an overdue four-metre boat with two people aboard on Monday evening.

Coast guard, civilian search-and-rescue vessels, as well as a Cormorant helicopter and Buffalo aircraft were sent to the search near Kitkatla, south of Prince Rupert.

James says one person was rescued from the four-metre boat and taken aboard a coast guard vessel late Tuesday morning.

The search for the second person continued, but James says it was called off in the afternoon and the file was turned over to the RCMP as a missing-person case.

James says once officials have exhausted the possibility of finding somebody alive, they must recall search-and-rescue assets in case they are needed for another incident.