Lost mushroom picker 'emerged from the bush' 5 days after going missing - Action News
Home WebMail Tuesday, November 19, 2024, 02:05 PM | Calgary | -4.8°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
North

Lost mushroom picker 'emerged from the bush' 5 days after going missing

RCMP say 55-year-old Darrel Russell of Kitwanga, B.C., 'emerged from the bush' Thursday afternoon, five days after he was last seen picking mushrooms near Watson Lake, Yukon.

55-year-old B.C. man Darrel Russell became separated from his group on Saturday

Darrel Russell, 55, of Kitwanga, B.C. went missing near Watson Lake on Saturday. (RCMP)

A B.C. man who got lost while picking mushrooms near Watson Lake, Yukon last weekend has "emerged from the bush,"RCMP say.

Darrel Russell of Kitwanga B.C., 55, had last been seen Saturdayin the Barney Lake fire burn area. He was with a group at the time, and among hundreds of people currentlyin the area picking morels.

RCMP say Russell became separated from his group on Saturdayand spent the next several days trying to find his way back to camp. He told police he lit fires eachnight, and could hearsearch helicopters overhead, butcouldn't see them.

Police have not said what condition Russell was in when he was found, but that "information on his medical condition is pending." They said family members will be accompanying Russell to Watson Lake Community Hospital to be medically assessed.

RCMP say the search also turned up a couple of other lost mushroom pickers,though neither had yet been reported missing.

One man had been lostthree days, and the other for 24 hours.

Watson Lake RCMPwere assisted in the search byRCMP Police Dog Services;Yukon Search and Rescue;search and rescue crews from Prince George, Fort St. John and Nechako Valley;Environment Yukon Conservation Officers;Yukon Energy, Mines and Resources Officers;the Civil Air Search andRescue Association,and five Yukon Wildland Fire Management crews.