UPDATE: Search called off after Kamloops family returns home safely

UPDATE: 8:31 A.M., MAY 4, 2015

RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Cheryl Bush says the family has returned home safely.

7:18 A.M., MAY 4, 2015

KAMLOOPS – A family of four has gone missing near McLure and helicopter search crews are scouring the area in hopes of locating them.

Kamloops Search and Rescue was called in around 5:30 a.m. Monday, May 4, according to Search Manager Alan Hobler.

The young family is believed to have gone ‘mud bogging’ yesterday and was probably not prepared to spend the night in the bush. The family, which includes a man, a woman and two kids, aged eight and nine, may be in the Knouff Lake area, Hobler says, adding he believes they are from Kamloops.

“We have mobilized PEP Air (the civilian air search and rescue team) and an RCMP heli is up looking for them,” Hobler says. “We are unable to have a narrower search area at this time so we are limited on ground searches, but we do have a crew on the way in case (the helicopter crews) spot them.”

The family is believed to be in a 1976 red two-door Toyota Tercel. If anyone has seen the family or the car they are asked to call Kamloops RCMP at 250-828-3000.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Jennifer Stahn at jstahn@infonews.ca or call 250-819-3723. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.