RCMP announce break in six-year-old missing person case near Clearwater

KAMLOOPS – Six years after a British Columbia man was last seen, RCMP say there has been a break in the missing person case.

A truck belonging to 78-year-old Vern Boettger has been found in east-central B.C., not far from where in lived in Vavenby.

Cpl. Madonna Saunderson says the truck was located in a culvert on Sept. 5, almost six years to the day after he disappeared in October 2013.

Saunderson says police, search teams and family members combed a large radius around the vehicle but found no trace of the man.

She says there is no evidence of foul play but there are signs the truck became stuck in the culvert and Boettger was unable to dislodge it.

While the discovery of the truck has allowed teams to narrow down a search area for Boettger, Saunderson says it's disappointing that it hasn't produced more clues on the disappearance.

"The description of where the vehicle was found has been described as very rugged and overgrown since the vehicle perhaps got stuck there," Saunderson says in the statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2019