A highly trained canine search team from Edmonton has joined the search for a missing 20-year-old Cortes Island man.
The family of Miles Meester brought in the team, which includes three professional search dogs, on Saturday.
“We’re staying hopeful. We’re trying to continue to search and hope for the best,” said Meester’s aunt, Hannah Ballard.
Meester was last seen on the evening of Feb. 6. His family said he was experiencing mental health concerns when he disappeared after a family argument near the Cortes Natural Food Co-op in Mansons Landing on Cortes Island.
“He was there one minute and gone the next,” said aunt Jade Jordan.
The family describes Meester as a “sweet, shy young man” loved by family, friends and co-workers. “His family is heartbroken, searching until darkness each day to bring Miles home,” said a statement posted on Facebook.
RCMP and search-and-rescue volunteers have been looking for Meester since he went missing a week and a half ago.
His photo was circulated to B.C. Ferries crews before the first sailing off the island the day following his disappearance, asking that staff look for Meester.
Ballard asked everyone on Cortes to continue checking their properties, out buildings, vehicles and boats for any sign of Meester and to keep an eye out for him.
A fundraising effort to cover the costs of bringing the search dogs in from Edmonton and provide food and accommodation for search volunteers has raised more than $6,000.
Meester is described as white, five-foot-11 with a slim build. He has dark brown hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information about Meester’s whereabouts is asked to call Quadra Island RCMP at 250-285-3631.
