Missing person may have been swept into Kelowna's 'extremely fast' Mission Creek: rescue crews

A desperate search is underway in Kelowna, B.C., for a missing person who may have been swept into rough, flooding waters Tuesday.

Duane Tresnich of Central Okanagan Search and Rescue told CTV News that his crew of 22 volunteers spent eight hours trying to locate a woman in rough water along Mission Creek Greenway.

“Right now the water is running extremely fast,” said Tresnich. “This current would be approximately 10 km/hour so it would easily be able to sweep somebody in the water and down. ”

On Wednesday, Kelowna Mounties said they are looking for 31-year-old Chelsea Cardno, who was last seen leaving her home on Dougall Road South at about 8 a.m. the previous day. Police said she'd left to walk her German shepherd near the Mission Greenway.

"At the time Chelsea went missing, the water level of Mission Creek was high and fast-moving," said Const. Mike Della-Paolera in a news release.

"While searching the area, COSAR rescued overturned kayakers at the mouth of Mission Creek. Given the local state of emergency, the Kelowna RCMP are asking citizens to stay away from Mission Creek."

Beyond the fast-moving current, Tresnich says the water also contains hazardous debris.

“The water’s eroding a lot of the banks so there’s a lot of trees that have fallen into Mission Creek and they’re jamming up and getting caught in sections,” said Tresnich. “So as you come through, you could be caught up in a log boom or a bunch of trees that are caught up in the water not able to flow through, or caught up in one of the bridges also.”

City officials declared a state of emergency Tuesday afternoon, as heavy rainfall and melted snow resulted in flooding along Mission Creek. Multiple road closures were put in place and at least eight homes were impacted by the flooding, according to Sandra Follack, Central Okanagan emergency program co-ordinator.

“This was unexpected,” said Follack. “We had a bit of a breach of one of the areas along Mission Creek."

Cardno is described as 4'11" and 108 pounds. She has brown hair and blond highlights and was last seen wearing a blue or grey hat, red puffy jacket, sweatpants and black lace-up style boots.

Anywho who may have seen Cardno or her dog named JJ should call Kelowna RCMP at 250-762-3300.