Kamloops Search and Rescue (KSAR) has suspended its search efforts for missing woman Shannon White after spending some 3,000 hours in the past two weeks scouring forested areas north and west of the city.
Kamloops Search and Rescue manager Alan Hobler said the team is burned out and, after finding no sign of White following one last major search effort over the weekend, KSAR’s operations have been suspended pending any new information that comes to light.
“It’s completely unprecedented how hard we searched,” Hobler said, noting searches were conduced every day, except for one day, dating back to Nov. 10, with about 3,000 search hours accumulated.
The decision to recommend halting KSAR efforts ultimately came from the RCMP, Hobler said, noting it would have also been search and rescue’s recommendation due to a number of factors.
At this point, the likelihood of searchers getting hurt is higher than the likelihood of finding something, Hobler told KTW.
“Searchers get tired and, when searchers get tired, the higher the likelihood of injuries as well,” Hobler said.
There’s also the recent snowfall in the areas searched as snow makes the probability of finding something lower and the likelihood of missing something much higher.
Hobler said the team has extensively searched both areas RCMP requested KSAR to search.
“Not to say that something [hasn’t] been missed — that’s always a possibility — but the effort to continue versus the probability of finding something is quite a bit lower now,” he said.
Hobler said KSAR deployed varied and thorough techniques, noting it used search dogs and “some of the best search managers in the province to help profiling and find locations to look.”
“Basically, it’s beating the bushes,” he said. “It’s a lot of people, longer days. Just shortly after dawn to dusk, they’ve been out.”
While KSAR’s search efforts are now suspended, the RCMP may still continue to search, Hobler said.
He said the case is potentially a homicide investigation, but noted he is not at liberty to disclose the exact locations of the searches as that information must come from the RCMP.
Kamloops Search and Rescue suspends search for Shannon White - Kamloops This Week