North Shore Rescue officials are looking for gear taken from yet another backcountry emergency cache.
The third such cache that has been raided in the past month—this one up at Lynn Lake North of Vancouver—is missing about $5,000 worth in search and rescue equipment.
“It detracts from what our main message is,” said North Shore Rescue spokesperson Jim Loree, “which is rescuing people and education and things like that, it just leaves our members taxed.”
In all, Loree said NSR has had to replace well over $20,000 in backcountry gear.
The caches are located in various remote spots around north shore. NSR volunteers use what’s inside to help wayward backcountry enthusiasts return to safety in all seasons.
Loree would not say exactly what was stolen because the matter is being investigated by police.
Now that a third cache has been raided, Loree added the matter is beginning to look targeted.
“It’s very suspicious because you’d have to have really good knowledge of the area to know where these caches are and they are very remote, so it’s a bit of a hike to get to them,” Loree said.
North Shore Rescue is planning to beef up security on the caches—many of them several hours’ hike from the nearest trail head.
Anyone with more information on the thefts is asked to contact North Vancouver RCMP at 604-985-1311 or Crime Stoppers at 1800-222-8477 (TIPS).
