Coquitlam Search and Rescue (CSR) shared a new detail Wednesday as the search continues for a missing 59-year-old man since he disappeared near the Coquitlam River over the weekend.
Coquitlam Search and Rescue says Robert Belding was last seen near Pipeline Road and Galette Avenue around 5 p.m. Sunday. Early reports suggested that he had fallen into or been swept away by the overflowing current while walking with his brother’s dog amid the heavy downpour of the atmospheric river.
In an update Wednesday, CSR confirmed that Belding was attempting to save the dog after it fell into the river.
“The dog went into the water, and Robert, being a good soul, went after to try and rescue it. The witness reported that he was swept away almost immediately because the current was so strong and the river so high,” said Media Relations Officer Ian MacDonald.
The dog was later found near Shaughnessy Street and David Place.
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Speaking to CityNews Tuesday, Belding’s daughter said her dad is a strong, outdoor-savvy person who has recovered from accidents before this one.
“We’re hoping that he floated and was able to grab onto something, and he is just buried somewhere, injured, and can’t get out. So we’re just hoping that we’ll find him some obscure place. We’re hoping he’ll get out, obviously,” said Jessica Belding.
MacDonald says crews have used a helicopter and boat, searched the shoreline on foot, and intend to keep searching until Belding is found. But MacDonald says that the search effort’s “big push” will come Friday.
“BC Hydro is reducing the outflow of water from Coquitlam Lake — from their dam there — into the Coquitlam river. And we will have had a number of days in a row of no rain. So the combination of those two things will significantly reduce the river levels on Friday, and we will actually have our swift water technicians along with mutual aid technicians searching for Robert there.”
MacDonald says the water level has been too dangerous for those technicians so far.
More rain is in the forecast for the coming weekend, but CSR says the search for Belding will continue, even if the methods used are forced to change.
“In searches like this, we don’t give up.”
—With files from Maria Vinca and Monika Gul