Crews recover body from B.C. river in search for Robert Belding

Five days after Robert Belding disappeared from B.C.’s Lower Mainland during an intense atmospheric river, search crews have recovered a body.

The 59-year-old went missing from Galette Park, near the Coquitlam River, late Sunday afternoon, as heavy rain was falling across the region.

On Friday, crews found a body in the river. The remains were airlifted out on a stretcher.

Coquitlam Search and Rescue had co-ordinated with BC Hydro to reduce the water flowing from a nearby dam, giving crews a better opportunity to look for Belding.

The missing man’s family had been holding out hope he might be found alive, though authorities announced their search effort had become a recovery mission by Thursday.

Belding was walking his brother’s dog when he disappeared last weekend, and officials believe he fell into the raging river and was swept away.

The golden retriever was found later that evening downstream, soaking wet but unhurt.

The RCMP quickly deployed a drone equipped with night vision and infrared cameras, but could not locate Belding – and the river levels were high in the days that followed, creating dangerous conditions for searchers.

That did not deter Belding’s daughter, who spent Tuesday in the pouring rain searching for him on foot.

“It’s just hard. It doesn’t feel real,” Jessica Belding said at the time. “Obviously everyone’s pretty distraught.”

Other family told CTV News Belding was a generous and kind person who would do anything to help others.

The circumstances of his disappearance reflect that – Belding was only in the area at the time to help with a friend’s flooded basement.