Search for missing hiker near Victoria suspended

The search for a missing 38-year-old hiker who disappeared earlier this month near Victoria has been suspended.

Approximately 170 search-and-rescue volunteers from across B.C. converged on the hiking trails near Sooke, B.C., on Saturday in an effort to locate Melissa McDevitt, who last spoke to her family on Dec. 8.

On Tuesday afternoon, Tom McDevitt pulled into the Charters River parking lot in Sooke to join in the search for his missing daughter Melissa McDevitt. (CTV)

Saturday's search was the largest single deployment of search personnel in a decade in B.C., according to the Comox Valley Search and Rescue team.

On Monday, the Mounties called off the search after consultations with the Juan de Fuca Search and Rescue group.

"The Sooke RCMP, along with Ms. McDevitt’s family, wish to extend their sincere appreciation to Juan de Fuca Search and Rescue, along with over 17 other assisting search-and-rescue agencies from across Vancouver Island and other parts of British Columbia, for their significant search efforts over the last nine days," Sgt. Kevin Shaw, acting commander of the Sooke RCMP, said in a statement Monday.

Melissa McDevitt, 39, last spoke to her family on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022, before going hiking near Sooke, B.C. (Victoria police)

The local RCMP detachment is still investigating McDevitt's disappearance after her vehicle was found abandoned in a parking lot near the Sooke Potholes.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call the Sooke RCMP at 250-642-5241.