Search for missing B.C. senior Jane Whitehouse suspended until summer

The search for an 82-year-old woman who vanished along a remote forestry road in B.C.’s Lower Mainland last month has been suspended, her family revealed Thursday.

While the investigation into Jane Whitehouse’s disappearance remains open, efforts to locate the Langley Township resident will not resume until the summer, according to an update posted on Facebook.

Whitehouse was reported missing on Oct. 25, and her Dodge Grand Caravan was found abandoned in a creek along the East Harrison forestry road two days later – puzzling her relatives, who had no idea why she might have driven there.

In the latest social media update, shared by Melanie Sora on behalf of Whitehouse’s daughter Eileen, said the missing senior’s shoes were recovered from the area, at separate locations. One was located near her van while the other was found down a spur road, off East Harrison, on a steep precipice.

Those discoveries, and other factors, have led RCMP and search crews to determine Whitehouse “most likely slipped into the swollen waters of the creek and was carried further down,” according to the Facebook post.

"The chance of her surviving the fall into icy waters is pretty much non-existent. This is high altitude in the mountains with winter weather setting in. There's snow and it's now too dangerous to try to locate her,” the update said.

Even if Whitehouse did not fall into the water, authorities believe she likely would have succumbed to hypothermia.

The family thanked the multiple RCMP detachments and numerous search and rescue teams that helped in the effort to locate Whitehouse, as well as the friends and community members who spread the word about her disappearance.

While waiting for the search to resume next year, the family also urged supporters not to attempt to navigate the “treacherous mountainside” where the senior went missing.

“The family is at peace with where things are now and with the recovery efforts slated to resume in the summer, we don't want to see anyone injured or worse in attempts to find Jane,” they wrote.

“If anyone is in the area though and they do see something unusual or of curiosity, please report it to the RCMP and do not touch anything.”

Authorities previously released one surveillance image of Whitehouse in a distinctive green jacket, which she was wearing at the time of her disappearance, and another that appeared to show her behind the wheel of her Dodge Caravan on the forestry road.