Sean ChaseDaniel ‘Eli’ Gordey disappeared on Sept. 28. The 37-year-old failed to return home from Loveland Bay, situated 50 kilometres northwest of Comox. Police later found Gordey’s vehicle, a grey 2010 Toyota Matrix, in the area. A spokesman from the Campbell River RCMP detachment said authorities don’t feel the disappearance is suspicious at this time.
Search operations have been underway for the past six days led by Campbell River Search and Rescue. Aircraft from 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron, based at 19th Wing Comox, have also been engaged in the search, along with RCMP dive teams, RCMP Air Services, an RCMP police K-9 unit, drones, and some 70 volunteers. CHEK News reported that it was a helicopter crew from 442 Squadron found Gordey’s car at the end of a logging spur near the Big Bay Recreation Area on Saturday.
The primary role of 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron is to provide aircraft to the Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC) Victoria. This region consists of some 920,000 square kilometres of a mainly mountainous terrain of Yukon and British Columbia and 560,000 square kilometres of the Pacific Ocean extending to approximately 600 nautical miles offshore, including over 27,000 kilometres of rugged British Columbia coastline. The squadron includes pilots, navigators, flight engineers, and Search and Rescue Technicians (SAR Techs), as well as a fleet of 11 aircraft at peak operational readiness. The squadron employs AgustaWestland CH-149 Cormorant and CC-115 Buffalo turboprop aircraft.
Daniel Gordey is described as a five-foot white man, weighing 200 pounds with short brown hair and blue eyes. Anyone who has seen him are asked to contact the RCMP or CrimeStoppers. Anyone with information about Gordey’s whereabouts is asked to call Campbell River RCMP at 250-286-6221.
