VICTORIA -- Update:
A pair of missing Langford teens were located safe by an RCMP air services helicopter on Monday afternoon.
Dylan Deroy, 18, and Jordan Phillion, 15, were first reported missing after the pair set out for a day trip in the Lake Cowichan area on Sunday. They were expected to return that evening, but never arrived.
Mounties say that the pair were spotted on a back road in the Copper Canyon area of Chemanius on Monday afternoon.
Police say that teens’ vehicle, a 1996 GMC Sonoma pick-up truck, broke down in the wooded area of Vancouver Island, stranding the pair.
“The boys are safe and returning home to their families in Langford,” said Cpl. Chris Dovell of the West Shore RCMP in a release Monday.
“Thank you to all the first responders, search and rescue personnel and community members for your hard work to help locate them.”
Earlier:
Police from two Vancouver Island RCMP detachments are searching for a pair of missing teens who were expected to return home from a trip on Sunday, but who have not been seen since.
Mounties from the West Shore and Lake Cowichan RCMP detachments are searching for Dylan Deroy, 18, and Jordan Phillion, 15, of Langford.
The pair went on a trip to the Lake Cowichan area on Sunday and were expected to return to Langford later that night.
"This is very not like them," said Jordan's mother, April Phillion. "They always come home after one of these forest trips – they’ve done these for months."
Police say that Deroy’s cell phone was last used in the 300-block of Gibbins Road in North Cowichan at 11:34 a.m. Sunday. Since then, police have been unable to track any cell phone activity.
"We knew once their phones were off, something wasn’t right," April said. "It's highly likely that there is no [cell] service where they are."
The mother said that workers with logging companies in the area have stopped working Monday to help in the search.
Lake Cowichan Search and Rescue teams are currently looking for the pair, and an RCMP helicopter and multiple Civil Air Search and Rescue planes are expected to launch air searches on Monday.
Police say that Deroy and Phillion may have been travelling on back roads in the Youbou area in Deroy’s white 1996 GMC Sonoma pick-up truck.
The truck has BC licence plates PD3539 and features a sticker that reads “Syclone” on the side.
Mounties add that it is unlikely that the pair intended to camp overnight, as they only packed for a day trip.
"They usually are home by dark," April said. "This makes absolutely no sense."
Anyone with information on the pair’s location, or who may have seen the white GMC Sonoma truck, is asked to contact their local police or call 911 immediately.
"We need to find these boys and bring them home," April said. "I can't have them there another night."
