A man who went missing for five weeks in a remote park in the Rocky Mountains has been found alive – after enduring temperatures as low as -20C (-4F).
Sam Benastick was reported missing on 19 October after failing to return from a 10-day trip to Redfern-Keily Park in Canada’s British Columbia province.
Search efforts, led by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), were called off in late October with temperatures dropping well below freezing at times.
But on Tuesday, two men on their way to work at Redfern Lake saw a man walking towards them and recognised him as Mr Benastick.
They took him to a hospital, where police officially identified him as the missing 20-year-old.
Corporal Madonna Saunderson, of the British Columbia RCMP communications team, said: “Finding Sam alive is the absolute best outcome.
“After all the time he was missing, it was feared that this would not be the outcome.”
Mr Benastick told police he stayed in his car for a couple of days and then walked to a creek where he camped out for between 10 and 15 days.
He said he then moved down the valley, and built a camp and shelter in a dried-out creek bed, before making his way to the area where he was found.
According to CBC News, Mr Benastick’s parents had stayed for 20 days at the Buffalo Inn near Pink Mountain while taking part in the search.
The inn’s general manager, Mike Reid, who said he had spoken to the people who found Mr Benastick, told the Canadian broadcaster: “You know, the guy says he’s in rough shape. But man, for 50 days out in that cold, he’s going to live.”
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More than 120 volunteers from across British Columbia were reportedly involved in the search effort, alongside the RCMP and Canadian Rangers, as well as Fort Nelson and North Peace search and rescue teams.
Redfern-Keily Park, where Mr Benastick went missing, is a remote beauty spot in the north-eastern region of British Columbia and is part of the Northern Rocky Mountains.
Those visiting the park are warned it is an “isolated area and weather can change rapidly” – and to be wary of possible encounters with grizzly and black bears.
