VICTORIA -- Comox Valley Search and Rescue members are among a large group of B.C. searchers who are looking for two men who went missing after hunting for mushrooms east of Pemberton on Thursday.
Dozens of search and rescue teams from across the province, as well as RCMP helicopter searchers, have been looking throughout the weekend for missing father and son Peter Oleski, 48, and River Leo, 21, of the Líl̓wat Nation.
The urgency of the search has remained high as temperatures plummeted across B.C. over the weekend, with temperatures dipping to -5 C in the area on Sunday.
Comox Valley Search and Rescue says that members are on the mainland assisting in a variety of roles Monday. About 12 volunteer members are currently there, with some helping direct the search, some acting as searchers and some handling dog teams.
Two command centres have been set up in the area, including one at Pemberton Airport and one along the Mackenzie Basin Foot Service Road. Helicopter searchers are being deployed from the airport while search volunteers and members of the Líl̓wat Nation are organizing at the centre along the forest service road.
On Friday, members of the Líl̓wat community discovered the pair’s red Dodge pickup truck near a paragliding launch in the area, east of Pemberton.
A social media post on the Sea to Sky Road Conditions Facebook group says that food and water were discovered inside of the truck, indicating that the pair did not intend to be gone from the vehicle for long.
With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Ian Holliday and Alissa Thibault.
