Searchers who are combing the east side of Harrison Lake for a missing, 82-year-old Aldergrove woman are asking the public to give them space and stay away.
Kent-Harrison Search and Rescue has been looking for Jane Whitehouse for a week, focusing on an area along Harrison East Forest Service Road.
Whitehouse was reported missing on Oct. 25, and was last seen wearing a green jacket in the Langley area. But her vehicle was found abandoned near the Harrison East FSR, and reported to RCMP on Oct. 27.
Since then the Kent-Harrison searchers, RCMP Police Dog Services, and other search and rescue teams from around the Fraser Valley have been working together. They are looking for her on the ground and from the air, and released a new set of photographs of the search area on their social media on Nov. 1, along with the request to stay out of the area.
They also thanked all the teams providing mutual aid in the search: Central Fraser Valley Search and Rescue Society, Chilliwack Search and Rescue, Mission Search and Rescue Society, Ridge Meadows Search and Rescue, South Fraser Search and Rescue, Coquitlam Search and Rescue, and Hope Volunteer Search and Rescue.
"All BC Search and Rescue members are unpaid, professional volunteers and we greatly appreciate the hundreds of hours volunteers have devoted to this search," their statement said. "This is an ongoing search and we request that members of the public stay away from the search area."
Earlier this week, RCMP announced that Whitehouse's grey Dodge Caravan was captured on surveillance footage on Oct. 25 at about 4:10 p.m., on Hicks Lake Road. A few seconds later, a white Mercedes SUV heading in the opposite direction passed the minivan.
“We are releasing the photograph of the white Mercedes SUV with the hopes of having the driver come forward and speak with our investigators,” said Cpl. Zynal Sharoom of the Langley RCMP.
Whitehouse's Caravan was found in the Agassiz area on Oct. 27.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Jane Whitehouse should contact their local police, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477(TIPS).
