CANADA Canada - Ben Tyner, 32, cowboy, his horse returned w/o him, Merritt, British Columbia, 26 Jan 2019

[DarkestHour2019]

When was “trailering in” ruled out?

I read that as well, I believe q101 news in Merritt. Lack of tracks if I recall.

 

[jewelsmac]

For those that live in the area, or have similar properties, ranches near wilderness etc. Have you ever heard of someone disappearing for this long? No trace at all?

 

[DarkestHour2019]

Cattle can spook, but it is usually caused by something they are not used to. For example, I check fences on horseback or four wheeler, so our cattle are used to both those things. I also use the four wheeler to take feed out to them, so they associate the sound of the four wheeler with getting fed. They are also used to seeing a large tractor that we use to move round bales to them.

These are things they see daily. Now, if you were to drive a large truck through the area, that might spook them because it is not something they see regularly, the noise it makes is not the same, etc.

Another thing that affects the level of spookiness in a herd of cattle is the way they are handled and worked. If you are calm and gentle on how you handle them, they stay calm. Most people who work with cattle regularly know this.

Could a wild animal spook them? Certainly, particularly if it was an attack of some sort. BUT, there would most likely be evidence of some sort of attack- animals with injuries, dead animals, blood, hair, etc.

We see coyotes here regularly, and yet we have never has any cattle attacked on any of the farms in our immediate area. We do have bears and bobcats here as well, and have had no issues with them and cattle. We have neighbors who claim to have seen evidence of large cats, but no one has ever captured hard evidence of them here.

There are lots of cougars in Merritt and because it’s cold they look hungry, however no signs of a cougar attacked.

 

[DarkestHour2019]

For those that live in the area, or have similar properties, ranches near wilderness etc. Have you ever heard of someone disappearing for this long? No trace at all?

Yes a Dean Morrison.

 

[DarkestHour2019]

Smiley face Killings are generally young men college-age, out drinking with friends, get separated, and up and water. Don’t think it applies here

True.

 

[DarkestHour2019]

I know absolutely nothing about the cowboy way of life, but I would believe someone getting to do what they absolutely love for a living...I would think that would inspire the absolute opposite of depression. jmo

Exactly he did what he loved to do, correct ?

 

[DarkestHour2019]

Not found in water so probably not smiley face killer. IMO.

Well, not really found, so who knows?

And in the Merritt area you can visit a different lake a day for a year, so lots of lakes, frozen however.

 

[Trudie]

I know absolutely nothing about the cowboy way of life, but I would believe someone getting to do what they absolutely love for a living...I would think that would inspire the absolute opposite of depression. jmo

I bet Ben’s heart smiled every day when he saddled his favorite horse. Still wishing for a miracle.

 

[DarkestHour2019]

Smiley face Killings are generally young men college-age, out drinking with friends, get separated, and up and water. Don’t think it applies here

He was seperated from his horse as well as his dog(s), not sure if that counts, but very ominous.

 

[DarkestHour2019]

Smiley face Killings are generally young men college-age, out drinking with friends, get separated, and up and water. Don’t think it applies here

If there was a smiley face near or around where his horse was found, I think I would vomit.

 

[Equestrian]

I have not yet seen this particular article listed here. I'm sure some of you have read this already, but I'll share it here for those who haven't. Of note is the comments by a NR employee, who mentions their standard protocol when heading out for a ride, and states "They're just devastated".

"That's the real problem, we don't know how his horse got to the location where they believe Tyner disappeared. That's also the problem, we just don't know what to say, it's a mystery. All of us are just beyond... we don't know what happened to him. It's the strangest thing."

"One thing the ranch knows for sure is that Tyner was very safety conscious but what he did was very out of character."

"Our people never go out alone and if they do we use a 'call in' procedure."

Mystery of missing cowboy - BC News

 

[Deleted member 238131]

True, today was -25 Celsius. If you know Merritt, between the old highway and the new highway bringing you to Kamloops, there is not too many places to hide, mostly grazing lands, flat etc. I live about 10 minutes away, they did a very good search, where they think he would’ve went.

It was —15C all day today in Merritt. Still cold and our wind adds to the chill factor as, that is for sure!

There are loads of “places to hide” and there is some flat rangeland out there but Merritt is hardly flat.

Would be easier to gather stray cattle if that were the case. (On a side note, How many head didn’t get gathered this fall? .... this is what NR people suggested BT was doing, “looking for strays”).

I don’t know, maybe I misunderstood the comment & you meant cabins that are potential hideouts?

I’m local and very familiar with our surrounding landscape and it’s vast & fairly dramatic in areas: we have dense conifer forests, sagebrush, grasslands, wetlands, many lakes, rocky outcrops, large stands of timber where logging is almost ongoing....

Regardless, if there are so few spots why has it taken so long to locate BT or, the evidence LE, SAR and civilians have spent so many days searching for?

Confirm that LE has been asking around about a few things; they’ve approached businesses as well as civilians/residences.

We are all holding our breath as to where the investigation is at . . . are they close to releasing some more information? MSM has been silent.

 

[Deleted member 238131]

That was only a suspicion and was never confirmed. It appears they no longer believe it to be the case.

Really? I wasn’t aware of that ...
where did you read that?

 

[Deleted member 238131]

For those that live in the area, or have similar properties, ranches near wilderness etc. Have you ever heard of someone disappearing for this long? No trace at all?

Down the road from NR, neighbouring ranch called Stump Lake (on same lake) has a Dean Morrison go missing about 5 years ago. Never located & no trace.

About an hour away in hamlet (town?) called Spences Bridge a man also went missing in the fall of 2017. they found his burnt up vehicle out of town but never located him. The brother has just had two boards erected hoping to keep the story about Luke Neville Misaing in peoples minds.

 

[watcher9]

In all the searching, did they locate the missing cattle he would have been hunting?

ETA - In other words, have they found the area he was searching in yet?

 

[Trudie]

In all the searching, did they locate the missing cattle he would have been hunting?

ETA - In other words, have they found the area he was searching in yet?

I can’t find any info indicating SAR found cattle or narrowed in on a precise location where Ben “possibly” rode.
His family must be devastated beyond belief & wonder how things went so wrong in short order.
Moo

 

[Steelslady]

I have not yet seen this particular article listed here. I'm sure some of you have read this already, but I'll share it here for those who haven't. Of note is the comments by a NR employee, who mentions their standard protocol when heading out for a ride, and states "They're just devastated".

"That's the real problem, we don't know how his horse got to the location where they believe Tyner disappeared. That's also the problem, we just don't know what to say, it's a mystery. All of us are just beyond... we don't know what happened to him. It's the strangest thing."

"One thing the ranch knows for sure is that Tyner was very safety conscious but what he did was very out of character."

"Our people never go out alone and if they do we use a 'call in' procedure."

Mystery of missing cowboy - BC News

That is really alarming. I just don't picture this man abandoning his horse for whatever reason- disappearing on his own or self harm.

So he didn't tell anyone at the ranch of his plans- big red flag there for me. I just wonder where exactly he went missing from. Did anyone actually see him that morning at the ranch, or was his last time being officially seen when he went out the night before?

 

[zecats]

That is really alarming. I just don't picture this man abandoning his horse for whatever reason- disappearing on his own or self harm.

So he didn't tell anyone at the ranch of his plans- big red flag there for me. I just wonder where exactly he went missing from. Did anyone actually see him that morning at the ranch, or was his last time being officially seen when he went out the night before?

I have only read MSM reports (quoting LE) that he was seen Saturday evening, and that narrowed down the time frame. Never has anyone said where he was last seen or by whom.

 

[Trudie]

I have only read MSM reports (quoting LE) that he was seen Saturday evening, and that narrowed down the time frame. Never has anyone said where he was last seen or by whom.

It’s all confusing. IMO, this isn’t at all as originally thought. Glad the MCU are assisting with the investigation.

 

[Steelslady]

I have only read MSM reports (quoting LE) that he was seen Saturday evening, and that narrowed down the time frame. Never has anyone said where he was last seen or by whom.

Thanks- you know, I meant to ask this question and it just slipped my mind when I posted something else, hah- I blame old age.

If he was last seen on Saturday night, than man oh man, does that change things drastically, in my opinion. I wish LE would clarify if anyone at the ranch saw or heard him come in after his night out. That would make a huge difference in this case, if he never made it home to the ranch the night before. Which makes me question- if this is the case, I hope that LE is quietly investigating where he was last, who he was with, etc. If someone harmed him- they could have set the horse loose to make it look like he had an accident or did self harm.