Rescue crews set out once again Sunday morning to scour the North Shore mountains for Carl Couture, the 24-year-old hiker who hasn't been seen since Oct. 31.
North Shore Rescue crews focused on the west side of Lynn Creek below the Hanes and Lynn Lake junction. NSR team leader Mike Danks said teams pulled out of the field around 4:30 p.m. after a fruitless search, and will spend discuss the plan moving forward Sunday evening.
Friends say they're extremely concerned for Couture, who recently moved to Vancouver from Quebec.
"We're all worried," said Marie-Pierre Fecteau. "He's made some trails before. It's not his first time… [but] I would say he is not an experienced hiker."
Fecteau met Couture at their CEGEP college in Quebec City. She says he was studying cinema before moving to the West Coast.
"He has the talent to make every situation funny. To make everyone feel comfortable with him," she said.
Couture is an animal rights activist and also a vegan. Roy Sasano, an organizer with Vancouver Chicken Save, says he met Couture when he came out to a demonstration against a Vancouver slaughterhouse in October.
"When I found out Carl was missing I was a little bit worried—in particular because he was new to the city. I didn't know if that meant he was exploring a little bit too much," Sasano said.
North Shore Rescue crews are searching for Couture on foot and from the air using a thermal camera mounted in one of their helicopters. He was spotted on Grouse Mountain Resort surveillance footage embarking on the Hanes Valley Trail, and crews are scouring the backcountry in the area.
Heavy snow has fallen in the area since Couture went missing—and even more came down on Saturday.
"At the time he left, it was dry. It was not nearly this cold. Clearly he was not planning out as long as he has been," said NSR search manager Greg Miller.
Hypothermia is a real danger for Couture, says Miller. The hiker was only wearing runners, sweat pants and a fleece top in surveillance footage from Oct. 31.
