The accident occurred more than a month ago, but the body of Sechelt resident Valerie Morris has yet to be recovered.
Police have been searching for Morris since Aug. 11, when she was swept off a road in a mudslide. She was travelling on Highway 99 from Vancouver to Kamloops in a yellow 1968 Morgan convertible with her husband, Tom Morris. The couple and the group they were travelling with stopped at the side of the road in Cache Creek after being hit by a downpour. As Mr. Morris was preparing to put up the roof of the car, the mudslide swept it off the road. Mrs. Morris was still inside the vehicle.
Since then police have been involved in a search to locate Mrs. Morris, including using a small excavator and human remains dog. RCMP Sgt. Janelle Shoihet said Mrs. Morris could be buried under too many layers of soil for the dog to detect.
“The challenge is with the terrain,” said Shoihet, who said multiple mudslides have since occurred in the area, and a river is located at the bottom of the site where the accident occurred. “She could be buried in a number of different places.”
Police have located the car on a nearby riverbed but will likely leave it in place because it is in an ecologically sensitive area and according to Shoihet, “it’s probably less disruptive to leave it than to take it out.”
A couple of locations have yet to be searched, said Shoihet, “however they are in the water and will require specialized teams,” such as Swift Water Search and Rescue or the RCMP Underwater Rescue Team. She said local residents are also walking the area of the slide “and keeping their eyes open for anything of note.”
The search for Mrs. Morris will continue until police have exhausted all options and means, said Shoihet. Her husband will be notified first if she is found.
