Eugene Touchette and numerous other regional SAR crews following the successful search for 51-year-old Cortney Latoski. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

Successful search

Missing Nanaimo man safely found in Saskatchewan

Oct 16, 2019 | 7:28 AM

NANAIMO — The search for a missing Nanaimo man had a positive and unexpected conclusion.

Local police confirmed to NanaimoNewsNOW at noon Wednesday, Oct 16 Cortney Latoski, 51, had been safely located in Saskatchewan.

The news followed an intense overnight search on Tuesday, Oct 15 in the Nanaimo River Estuary area and resumed efforts Wednesday morning.

The missing person bulletin said Latoski was suffering from multiple sclerosis and “significant personal issues.”

Nanaimo SAR manager Eugene Touchette said it’s unclear how Latoski was found.

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“We’re not too sure about the details, we just know the RCMP, our tasking agency, had stood us down at that point saying that they had located him in Saskatchewan.”

Touchette said it’s a safe bet Latoski caught a flight to the prairies without letting his family know his travel plans.

Touchette, a 10-year-veteran of Nanaimo SAR, said he’s been involved in local searches which concluded in other communities, but hasn’t been apart of anything like this.

“Two provinces over it’s definitely a first for me,” Touchette said. “We didn’t have too much to go from. We just have to check off all the boxes and make sure he’s not in our area.”

Nanaimo Mounties said Latoski was last seen at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 15 at Southgate Shopping Centre and concerns grew when he didn’t return home at 3 p.m.

Touchette said Latoski is originally from Saskatchewan.

Numerous Vancouver Island SAR organizations converged on the Chase River area to look for Latoski.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com
On Twitter: @NanaimoNewsNOW