Search for missing Tofino boaters scaled back, handed over to RCMP
TOFINO, B.C. — Jae Valentine woke to the sound of wolves howling and cries for help early Friday morning after a boat sank off the coast of Tofino, B.C., prompting an exhaustive search for three missing men that has now been scaled back.
The Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre reduced rescue efforts 18 hours after responding to the call for help and has handed the case over to Tofino RCMP, which is treating it as a missing persons case.
Two of the five people aboard the tin boat were rescued within two hours, but volunteers and search technicians continue to scour the shoreline and sea for the remaining three.
Valentine, who owns the Cable Cove Inn, says she heard someone yelling “help me” over and over again beginning at 2:45 a.m. on Friday. She couldn’t tell where the calls were coming from because her property sits between an ocean and harbour. She got dressed and went outside to find her neighbour yelling back, “What kind of help do you need?”